Chris' Dive Experiences: Pelagic Magic & The Manta Dive Kona, Hawaii (Part 2)

Courtesy of Lesley Alstrand

After the Pelagic Magic dive the night before, we were excited to finally do the dive that we had been hearing about for some time, the manta dive. We again met up at the dive shop for a briefing late in the day. We reviewed all the usual boat and dive safety stuff along with some rules for diving with mantas. The rules involved common sense stuff like don’t chase the mantas, but they also stressed not reaching out to touch the mantas. We were shown examples with photos and videos of how the mantas' protective mucus layer on their skin is damaged when they are touched, ridden, or scratched. Damage to this layer in turn causes rashes that take some time to disappear.

People are often mistaken to think that the mantas want to be touched because they come so close to you. What they are actually doing is trying to position themselves above you as your exhaust bubbles are floating up so that your bubbles hit their underside and roll up and off their belly. They enjoy this jacuzzi effect which simulates that sensation of being touched. This information was all new and interesting to me since I had often seen pictures of people touching and riding mantas in different places throughout the world.

At this point we were all ready to head out and get to see mantas for ourselves. The boat ride was very short and it turns out that the manta dive site is right next to the Kona airport. We signed up for two dives which including a daylight dive and then the manta dive. We geared up and descended. Our divemaster showed us the area where we would be later for the manta dive and then he proceeded to lead us on our daylight reef dive.

During our dive he showed us a razor fish who, when is scared and wants to hide, darts headfirst into the sand. We also saw a Hawaiian turkey fish which is endemic to the Hawaiian islands and looks like a miniature lion fish. On our way back to the anchor line toward the end of our dive, we saw two mantas on the edge of the reef.

During our surface interval we were assigned lights and briefed again on the manta dive. Mantas feed on plankton which are attracted to our underwater lights. So with the snorkelers shinning their assigned lights down in a tight area where the divers are, and the divers shinning their lights up where the snorkelers are, you get a super concentrated area of plankton. To further improve the situation for viewing, the divemasters also put two crates full of lights aiming toward the surface in the middle of the area where the divers set.

Finally the sun set and it was time to jump in! As we descended, we headed toward the beam of light that was shinning up from the two crates of lights. All the divers sat in a big circle. There were about 25 to 30 divers from 3 boats making up the circle. Once we settled in our spot, the show didn’t take long to start. It was amazing how much plankton was in the area; so thick you could see it bouncing off your light. And the area above the crates of lights was thick with plankton too.

All the lights from the divers pointing up mixed with the snorkelers' lights pointing down, making it seem like a Las Vegas light show you see on the strip. Only a minute or two passed before the first manta made a pass through the lights, right over the center of the circle, gulping up plankton. Before that manta even got out of sight there were two more back to back passing through the center of the circle and directly toward Lesley and I. They passed so close the first time I ducked my head swearing that they were going to hit me. Next, one came from behind me and right over my head. I could feel the water move right above my head as the manta passed on its way toward the center.

The next thing that happened I think really demonstrates how graceful mantas are. They started following each other and would do complete flips starting all the way from the crates of lights on the bottom and going all the way to the surface just below the snorkelers, upside down like aerobatic stunt planes. It was so cool to watch how graceful and precise they were. They would come within inches of both the divers and snorkelers but never touch them. This show went on for 45 minutes and then it was time to end the dive. I don’t think anybody wanted to leave this underwater show, but we had to.

On a funny note, during this dive Lesley and I both saw a moray eel that was very friendly.

He swam all over the place, checking out the divers and even sat between Lesley’s legs. After the dive, the divemasters let us know that this is the resident eel who always puts on his own show. The divemasters will follow him around and film the divers reacting both favorably and unfavorably to him climbing all over them. In our video we bought of the dive, the eel has his own chapter. It is hilarious to watch all of his shenanigans.

Here's a a nice video of the manta dive by med103:

Chris' Dive Experiences: Pelagic Magic & The Manta Dive Kona, Hawaii (Part 1)

Photo Courtesy of Leslie Alstrand

After a nice short flight from Lindbergh Field, we landed at Kona International Airport paved on top of a large old lava flow with the beautiful Pacific Ocean just below the runway. Kona’s airport is a throwback to how airports used to be and many tropical ones still are. It is open air with roof coverings to provide shade and a place to stay dry during a shower. Stepping out of the airplane onto the stairs instantly relaxes you as you feel the warm sun mixed with the fresh sea breeze and enjoy the view of the contrast between the lava fields and the blue of the Pacific Ocean. On this trip we were doing a dive that is well known and raved about “The Manta Dive” and a dive you hear about off and on but not too many divers do it “Pelagic Magic” dive.

First up would be the Pelagic Magic dive. We met at the shop for the dive briefing in the classroom a couple of hours prior to the trip departure. Lesley and I were being joined by 3 other divers; all of us were from southern California. This was the lengthiest dive briefing we had ever encountered to this point in our diving lives. The briefing included the usual boat safety info, a fish and creature id using both books and a video, but also had very unique briefings on the dive. The way the Pelagic Magic or black water dive is carried out is the boat drives a couple of miles out at sun down and stops when the ocean floor reaches depths of around 2,500 feet. Instead of an anchor the boat deploys a parachute underwater allowing it to drift at a slow smooth rate. Each diver is clipped to his own weighted line that is around 50 feet deep, allowing each diver to move up and down in the water column as he wishes.

After signing some paper work and being assigned some nice big LED lights, it was time to go dive. The boat's motor came to a stop and the deck lights came on as our DM called out that it was time to gear up. As we were finishing readying ourselves, the boat deck was a very busy place with diver rope lines being laid out and a huge parachute being deployed.

We huddled together for one last pre-dive briefing to make sure we were ready and to give us a couple of last minute tips. These included: “if you see a huge white thing toward the front of the boat that’s not moving, don’t have a heart attack it’s the parachute that we’re using”, “if you get freaked out, don’t be embarrassed, this dive isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and it happens all the time”, or “if you get cold, make your way up your line; after your safety stop, we’ll have a warm towel and hot chocolate waiting for you”, and last but not least “please don’t pee in your suits, that seems to attract our resident tiger and oceanic sharks”. "Ready to go?"

Lesley and I were both very excited mixed with a bit of nerves. We stepped up to the swim step one by one and were clipped onto to our rope. Lesley and I would be on one side of the boat and the three other divers on the other side; all spread out allowing us a lot of room to move around and not blind each other with our lights.

I did my giant stride off the boat. Dropping down into the the black abyss, I followed my line to the 50 foot mark. Soon after hitting that mark all the lights from the boat were turned off allowing all of our attention to be focused on what our flash light beams found. Because of the great amount of spacing between Lesley, I and all the other divers, each of us facing outward from the boat's hull, and because we were each at different depths, I only saw a brief flash of light now and then from the other divers. In fact, even though we were on the same side of the boat, I only saw Lesley once during our whole dive. 

While floating in 2,500 feet of water I was amazed bythe amount of life that moved by us during our 68 minute dive. During this dive I spied countless types of jellies and salps. Many of them defied logic as to how something living should look. And how they moved, some even unrolling themseleves from a ball to catch prey and feed, was just fascinating. All of this hapening while they put on a light show on a miniature scale in our light beams while they drifted by me on their hunt for zooplankton.

Toward the end of our dive a large school of Hawaiian reef squid came by using our lights to chase their prey. They seemed to check me out at a distance before disappearing again into the dark.

This dive showed me how vast the ocean is and how much life there is other then sharks in the pelagic zone. Although we didn’t get to see any sharks or a rare pelagic sea horse, we ended up seeing half of the species in the pelagic ID book that we looked at before the dive. This was a very unique dive that I had fun experiencing.

Experience the dive for yourself with this video from Jack's Diving Locker:

Creature Feature: Wobbegong (or Carpet Shark)

Wobbegong is the common name given to the 12 species of carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean, chiefly around Australia and Indonesia, although one species (the Japanese wobbegong, Orectolobus japonicus) occurs as far north as Japan. The word wobbegong is believed to come from an Australian Aboriginal language, meaning "shaggy beard", referring to the growths around the mouth of the shark of the western Pacific.

Wobbegongs are bottom-dwelling sharks and spend much of their time resting on the sea floor. Wobbegongs are well camouflaged with a symmetrical pattern of bold markings which resembles a carpet, hence the name "carpet shark". The camouflage is improved by the presence of small whiskers lobes^[1] surrounding the wobbegong's jaw, which it uses to entice and catch fish. Wobbegongs are ambush predators. They use their relative invisibility to hide among rocks and catch smaller fish which swim too close. Most species have a maximum length of 4 feet or less, but the largest, the spotted wobbegong, Orectolobus maculatus, and banded wobbegong, O. halei, reach about nearly 10 feet in length.

Wobbegongs are generally not dangerous unless they are provoked. They have been known to bite people who accidentally step on them in shallow water; they may also bite scuba divers or snorkellers who poke or touch them, or who block their escape route. Wobbegongs are very flexible and can easily bite a hand that is holding on to their tail.^[2]  They have many small but sharp teeth. Their bite can be severe, even through a wetsuit.  Wobbegongs have been known to hang on once they have inflicted their bite and can be very difficult to remove.^[3] To avoid being bitten, divers should avoid contact.

Spotted wobbegong, Orectolobus maculatus,

showing the camouflage pattern and skin flaps

typical of wobbegongs.

Facts About Wobbegong Sharks

They are so flat in their shape that they look like the part of the sea floor.

They move slowly in water.

Diet: lobster, crab & octopus

They normally are not dangerous, but there have been 23 confirmed attacks.

Normally, it is not an aggressive creature.
Attacks only when provoked.

The females of these species can deliver around 37 young at a time.

^[1]^ "Wobbegongs - five species encountered in Queensland". Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries. 2009-03-02. http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/dpi/hs.xsl/28_12484_ENA_HTML.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-14.

^[2]^ Kuiter, Rudie (1999). Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia (amended ed.). New Holland Publishers (Aust.) Pty Ltd. p. 12. ISBN 1-86436-091-7.

^[3]^ "Shark sinks its teeth in for the long haul". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-02-12. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/11/1076388440368.html. Retrieved 2006-06-14.