Kirsty Andrews is a devotee of night diving in the UK, where the inky darkness yields beautiful things
KIRSTYANDREWS
Something of the night
Kirsty Andrews is a devotee of night diving in the UK, where the inky darkness yields beautiful things
The nights have drawn in, the clocks will soon change and daylight is at a premium. The halcyon days of summer with their long dive expeditions, welcome bank holidays and post-dive BBQs in the sunshine seem long behind us.
Have you packed away your dive kit for the winter? It will come as no surprise by now that I haven’ t- in fact my drysuit sometimes gets more use in the later months. As well as weekend trips to the sea,’ tis the season of the night dive for me. My buddies and I look forward to this time of year as much as any. Squidtastic!
When I started writing this column I’ d just come back from my first forays into Autumnal night dives, but it was still a little early in the season, meaning quite late nights, and not much sleep when I was still buzzing from all the sights I’ d seen. As it goes to print, the earlier darkness will be welcome as I can enter the water promptly, still admire the creatures of the watery dark and be home in time for 8 hours of dreaming of cephalopods.
Although patience has never been my
“ It’ s a happy dive for me if they turn up”
strong point, I find it’ s best to wait a little while after dusk- an hour after sunset at least for the water to get properly dark. Otherwise you may find yourself in the‘ changeover period’ when daylight loving animals have retired from the reef, and the nighttime hunters haven’ t emerged yet. Although I have had some fun dusk dives too, and the light can be very appealing, but today we’ re talking about the delights of the night.
In recent times I’ ve started to bring some toys with me to maximise my chances of success. I sometimes carry a small tripod and torches with me, which I set up on the seabed at the beginning of the dive and then revisit halfway through the dive to see what it’ s managed to attract. Usually, some miniscule beasties that follow the light in a frenzied manner, some not-very-appealing segmented worms and mini crustaceans, but often also fish coming in to feast on them, and if I’ m lucky, squid, bobtails and cuttlefish, and it’ s a happy dive for me if they turn up. Do red lights bother them less? Or are green lights a better attractant, as the squid fishermen use? I’ m not sure to be honest, but it’ s fun to experiment( and an interesting light show for anyone watching from the shore). I’ ve yet to see any juvenile octopus( where do they go?) so that remains a dream.
You don’ t need all the gimmicks though. Even with just your eyes and a small hand torch, there’ s lots to discover. Flatfish such as solenette( or yellow sole) are plentiful on the sand at night, gurnards, prawns and lobsters wander about, and most of all I find it very calm and mindful when all I can see is at the end of my beam of light or my buddy’ s.
Swimming out under moonlight and stars is beautiful, a rare privilege, and the phosphorescent glints of light as you move your fins in the dark are magical. I appreciate that it’ s not for everybody; I’ ve talked to many divers who just aren’ t interested and would much rather be tucked up on the sofa in woollens with a good book and a glass of wine of an evening. That does sound lovely – but if you haven’ t given a UK night dive a go, I’ d urge you to try it; it might be your latest obsession, like me. �
Bobtail squid on a night dive at Swanage
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