To the DeeperBlue Forum readers,
My name is Deniz and, as of yesterday, I am a scuba diver.
Last week I took part in the Open Water Scuba Diver course at Sundown Diving, Nanaimo.
The course was obviously very informative and Ed, our instructor, shared his knowledge and expertise readily; giving my fellow students and I a great deal of knowledge beyond what the course material provided.
Our first two dives were rather uneventful, which is exactly what you want if it's your first time breathing submersed in open water. We dove a spot called Evening Cove at Elliot Beach Park, south of Nanaimo. We stayed relatively shallow(20-25ft) and practiced the skills we had learned in our confined water dives. As a bonus, we saw numerous species of anemones, starfish, nudibranchs, jellies and a big red rock crab with a bad attitude. To be honest, since I have spent a lot of time freediving over the years, these dives were kind of boring and left me wanting more. Well... the next day I definitely got more. Much more.
Sunday morning, after writing our final exam, we got on the charter boat at Nanaimo harbor and made our way out to the Rivtow Lion; a decommissioned WWII tug(formerly H.M.R.T. Prudent) that was sunk as an artificial reef between Nanaimo and Newcastle Island. The deck sits at about 60ft and the hull meets bottom at about 90ft. The visibility was only 6-10ft because of the herring spawn happening right now, so as we made our way down the buoy line, the sunken piece of history didn't materialize until we were basically already on top of it.
Even though we couldn't see very far, Ed began to guide us around the deck, pointing out a great variety of life every few feet. Aside from the expected anemones, starfish, sculpins and jellies, we were treated to a few sights that I have been aching to see since I moved to BC two years ago. On each dive, I made my way along the deck and came face to face with beautiful Kelp Greenlings. Each one was pretty relaxed and settled on the deck within arms reach of me. Too cool. On top of that, the edge of the deck was home to numerous juvenile Quillback Rockfish; equally chilled out. Cute little buggers, but I'm hoping they grow up and reproduce well so I can take a few home for dinner in the future.
But best of all, by far, was the incredible Lingcod hanging out right on the ship's bow, guarding a big white ball of eggs. It wasn't a really big one(still over 2ft), but since they take a bit of a beating from the fishermen in this area, it was one of the bigger ones I've seen. Of all the fish I've caught out here, I've only been graced with one legal size Lingcod.
The point of this whole story:
I love the ocean and all it has to offer, but having only seen it in this area from the surface, and elsewhere in the world to a depth of no more than 45ft, I feel that my world has just grown by an incredible margin. Trolling along the surface, with nothing but hooks and down-riggers below only gives you a small slice of the story. The slice becomes slightly larger with modern electronics and sonar, but nothing like this. I have been wanting to see what's down there to the point of near(if not complete) insanity. Now I have.
Not only has my world become a larger place, but a different place altogether. Scuba diving the frigid waters of British Columbia has given me a whole new perspective of Vancouver Island and it's environment, along with a serious dose of adrenalin that's only now beginning to wear off. I'm hooked. Whether it's scuba or freediving, I will spend as much time in this coming summer below sea level around V.I.
You can take that to the bank.
Thank you Ed and Xander for opening up the door to the underwater world so much wider than the the little gap I had been exploring up until now. I can't wait to get back down there.
Yours truly,
Deniz. diver for life
My name is Deniz and, as of yesterday, I am a scuba diver.
Last week I took part in the Open Water Scuba Diver course at Sundown Diving, Nanaimo.
The course was obviously very informative and Ed, our instructor, shared his knowledge and expertise readily; giving my fellow students and I a great deal of knowledge beyond what the course material provided.
Our first two dives were rather uneventful, which is exactly what you want if it's your first time breathing submersed in open water. We dove a spot called Evening Cove at Elliot Beach Park, south of Nanaimo. We stayed relatively shallow(20-25ft) and practiced the skills we had learned in our confined water dives. As a bonus, we saw numerous species of anemones, starfish, nudibranchs, jellies and a big red rock crab with a bad attitude. To be honest, since I have spent a lot of time freediving over the years, these dives were kind of boring and left me wanting more. Well... the next day I definitely got more. Much more.
Sunday morning, after writing our final exam, we got on the charter boat at Nanaimo harbor and made our way out to the Rivtow Lion; a decommissioned WWII tug(formerly H.M.R.T. Prudent) that was sunk as an artificial reef between Nanaimo and Newcastle Island. The deck sits at about 60ft and the hull meets bottom at about 90ft. The visibility was only 6-10ft because of the herring spawn happening right now, so as we made our way down the buoy line, the sunken piece of history didn't materialize until we were basically already on top of it.
Even though we couldn't see very far, Ed began to guide us around the deck, pointing out a great variety of life every few feet. Aside from the expected anemones, starfish, sculpins and jellies, we were treated to a few sights that I have been aching to see since I moved to BC two years ago. On each dive, I made my way along the deck and came face to face with beautiful Kelp Greenlings. Each one was pretty relaxed and settled on the deck within arms reach of me. Too cool. On top of that, the edge of the deck was home to numerous juvenile Quillback Rockfish; equally chilled out. Cute little buggers, but I'm hoping they grow up and reproduce well so I can take a few home for dinner in the future.
But best of all, by far, was the incredible Lingcod hanging out right on the ship's bow, guarding a big white ball of eggs. It wasn't a really big one(still over 2ft), but since they take a bit of a beating from the fishermen in this area, it was one of the bigger ones I've seen. Of all the fish I've caught out here, I've only been graced with one legal size Lingcod.
The point of this whole story:
I love the ocean and all it has to offer, but having only seen it in this area from the surface, and elsewhere in the world to a depth of no more than 45ft, I feel that my world has just grown by an incredible margin. Trolling along the surface, with nothing but hooks and down-riggers below only gives you a small slice of the story. The slice becomes slightly larger with modern electronics and sonar, but nothing like this. I have been wanting to see what's down there to the point of near(if not complete) insanity. Now I have.
Not only has my world become a larger place, but a different place altogether. Scuba diving the frigid waters of British Columbia has given me a whole new perspective of Vancouver Island and it's environment, along with a serious dose of adrenalin that's only now beginning to wear off. I'm hooked. Whether it's scuba or freediving, I will spend as much time in this coming summer below sea level around V.I.
You can take that to the bank.
Thank you Ed and Xander for opening up the door to the underwater world so much wider than the the little gap I had been exploring up until now. I can't wait to get back down there.
Yours truly,
Deniz. diver for life
