Half Fish Can Swim, Sort Of

On the Great Barrier Reef at night, we would go for dive around 7:30pm. There were typically 5-6 divers following each Dive Master. Usually I just played Shepard; making sure no one got lost of left behind or strayed off into the other groups. There is a bit of mystery on each dive. The dive briefings are a bit different too. One particular thing would be the requirement to bring a light; how to enter the water with it, how to signal underwater, etc.

My favorite part about giving night briefings is the part where I tell them about my hobby; Red Bass Sniper. There are tons of huge RED BASS on just about every night dive. These fish are really aggressive, not the smartest fish in the sea, but they have learned that we can help them find dinner. This was one of my favorite things to do.

So after you descend down into the dark sea, you can really calm down and enjoy the stillness and the space-like environment - in many ways it is better than being an astronaut, on many levels. Well the RED BASS would soon take position on my shoulder as I swam around with my torch, on the hunt. As soon as I found a fish that was ugly and small, I'd spotlight it with my torch. This does two things; 1. It blinds the prey fish a little. 2. It shows the RED BASS what's on the menu. So the Predator locks on and the games begin. The night briefings have rules even for this hobby. Only 2 kills per night and try to shine the ugly fish, and if you can't find any ugly ones that should be on the menu; shine your buddy or have the Bass chase the light and run smack damn into a reef.

This one time on a night dive, I was loving every minute of the dive; there were so many different varieties out on the hunt; sharks, turtles, you name it... I believe the dive site was called "THE WHALE". Well I had a gathering of Red Bass teamed up with me and my sniping skills and there was this one fish that was ugly, but too big for Red Bass.... boy was I wrong! I just wanted to see if they'd be able to eat it. So I sniped it and watched the chase. There were 4 Red Bass chasing this fish. One of the Red Bass was huge! He took one bite of the prey; leaving only the front half. The front half of the fish was still alive and able to swim. It was trying to get away but then the other 3 took their bites and that was the end of the show. It was one of the most memorable things I have ever seen; on land or under the sea.

I remember I was actually yelling underwater and just hollering like I was at a Nascar race!

Night dives are by far the best, for me. I've seen some amazing displays in the ocean at night. I'd love to live under the sea one day, soon.