What we don't see down there...

[Hank49]

What I like do to see what's down there.
One is to gain an experienced eye to where you can find ghost pipe fish, frog fish and nudibranches like the one in Bob's photo. I remember the day I found my first frog fish. I felt like I'd passed some religious rite. It was awesome.
And two, just as challenging, was for me to learn fish behaviors so I can get real close to large, wary fish. You see them from 100 feet away....but try to get close. Sometimes it takes a couple hours.
Sometimes or places, it's easier on scuba, sometimes it's easier free diving.

 

[DeputyDan]

as to courses - I took Jerry's fish ID course at BD&A on Bonaire and it was more than worth the $50.00 cost.

I will probably take again at some point.

 

[Tristan.ak]

For finding anything, try scanning and looking for things that are out of place. Just like hunting one has to read between the braches and look for small and slight variations in the vegetation for grouse and Ptarmigan. I find that looking at something from different angles helps in finding animals. Also look beyond what you see since your mind is trying to see the obvious. On a first dive on a new site I just hang and look at a spot and check out one area that is a few meters square.

 

[Centrals]

As to "lousy courses", it's always interesting to me that most of the people who complain about them, never actually took them.

I have my own eyes and there are plenty to see under water to keep me happy. I do not WANT anyone to flip over anything to show me some weird creatures. I am pretty sure they do not want to be disturbed as well as being sapped by flash remorselessly!!
I spend my hard earned cash carefully and why would I want to waste it on "lousy course".
BTW, I never bother to find out the family, species or what ever Latin names of all the creatures that I had seen under water. It doesn't matter!!!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

... then why buy the books?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Hank49]

=Centrals;6109693
BTW, I never bother to find out the family, species or what ever Latin names of all the creatures that I had seen under water. It doesn't matter!!!

Learning the names of the fish helps though.
If you're discussing what you saw with another diver after the dive or over a beer later, it's more practical to say, "did you see the Antennarius commerson or, giant frogfish"? rather than saying "did you see that white fish with the snub nose and short little pectoral fins, stubby tail that just sat there like we couldn't even see it"?

 

[Tigerman]

I have my own eyes and there are plenty to see under water to keep me happy. I do not WANT anyone to flip over anything to show me some weird creatures. I am pretty sure they do not want to be disturbed as well as being sapped by flash remorselessly!!
I spend my hard earned cash carefully and why would I want to waste it on "lousy course".
BTW, I never bother to find out the family, species or what ever Latin names of all the creatures that I had seen under water. It doesn't matter!!!

Where the hell did you get flipping things over and harassing critters from??
Geeze...

 

[TSandM]

I just went and audited the first session of the marine life ID class I took back in 2005, and I was both pleased at how much I remembered, and delighted at how much I had forgotten that Laurel could bring back to me. I really think that learning what the creatures are, what they eat and what eats them, and what kind of environment they prefer, involves you in what you are seeing in a completely different way. Floating through a seascape and just looking is a pretty passive thing; getting intellectually involved in actively search for likely critters, or prospecting for behavior, or knowing "Whose eggs are these?", becomes a much more active process, and for me, that's just more fun.

 

[Mike Boswell]

One of the benefits of scuba travel with a good group is that they will often have some pre-travel activities where you can learn more about the place you are visiting. Our local dive shop here in El Cajon (The Dive Shack) put on a very informative series of emails and evening meetings prior to our Fiji trip, and the knowledge we gained made the whole trip, above and under the water, much more enjoyable.

 

[Centrals]

... then why buy the books?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I do not have any books on marine creatures.
If I need to know the name then I might look up from a book but to be honest with you Bob, I had NEVER done that before. There is always first time but........

Hank 49: Some divers like to talk endlessly about their "find" but I always found the topic boring.

Tigerman: I have seen it before when certain dive guide will show you some "goodies" by turning some rock, sea fan etc etc. One good example is the Halequin Shrimp. Cerain dive guide will keep his treasure hidden and frequently feed it with pieces of freshly cut star-fish. So he can promise his clients on the shrimp. This remind me of a circus.