Friday 20 May 2011
Thursday 5 May 2011
Fluro Diving - Night Diving with a difference
Night diving isn't everyone’s cup of tea, but this could be about to change. A new way to see the underwater world is emerging on the island of Koh Tao. ‘Fluro Diving’ is where the standard white light torch is swapped for a powerful ‘Ultra Violet’ torch. You also need an additional visor for your mask which helps filter the intense blue light and emphasise the coral fluorescence.
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| The photo belongs to Charles Mazel from www.Nightsea.com |
The affect is astonishing, resembling the night scenes from the movie Avatar. If you didn’t see the movie then where were you? The corals come to life in a very different way. The UV light reacts with the corals to create a fascinating array of fluorescent colours. Not all coral reacts to the light and some are brighter than others. For example the ‘Mushroom’ coral feeds at night by inflating its tentacles with water in an attempt to catch passing prey. By far it was the brightest of them all which could be its secret weapon for attracting its victims.
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| The photo belongs to Charles Mazel from www.Nightsea.com |
It wasn’t only the coral that shone brightly. Small crabs which scuttled across the sand glowed pink under the light. The white eyed moray eel glowed yellow. Very few fish react to the UV light but one in particular we noticed was the ‘long snouted cling fish’ which glowed pink. These guys are commonly found hiding in the spines of sea urchins. Again its difficult to know the reason why they glow and not others.
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| The photo belongs to Charles Mazel from www.Nightsea.com |
Our dive was conducted at the ‘Twin Rocks’ dive site on Koh Tao. If you want to be a part of this new era of night diving get in touch with Planet Scuba on Koh Tao. You need to have good buoyancy skills and be comfortable with night diving because not everything at night is fluorescent.
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| The photo belongs to Charles Mazel from www.Nightsea.com |
As my guide said to me on the journey back to Mae Haad, “more people have climbed Mount Everest than have tried Fluro diving”.
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