Daughter Freaked Out by Tiny Night Dive Critters

[gypsyjim]

:light:Red filter does help cut down on wormy bits. Or a dive light you can dial brightness up/down. Ran across a few divers in Bonaire that didn't have thier lights on. Used up about 500psi in a single breath.

Hey we did not mean to startle you, but you did shine your light in our eyes....

 

[PhilC]

Try feeding them to the corals? Daughter said, "Really???" Hmmm... worth a try.

Yep, really. It can help an annoyed diver go from being freaked out by the little things to trying to gather them just to see how many they can feed. The corals appreciate the free jumbo size meal as well. Just make sure you hold your light NEAR and not on the coral, with tentacles and mouths extended they are even more delicate than they are in the daytime. If you can locate a solitary polyp coral they have feeding tentacles up to 12" or more long that extend at night and grab up hundreds at a time. Not every hard coral will have it's feeding tentacles out depending on the time of night and moon phase but I've never had it take long to find several that are interested if the little bugs start to bother me.

 

[caymaniac]

I've done that. Freaks out the DM but if you have a good tank marker and a light you can illuminate for ascent, etc. - it can work.

I like tank markers when group diving. But as far as a light for an ascent, it isn't always a good idea. A number of times I've seen sea wasps that are attracted to your dive lights. When divers are waiting for their turn to surface and they are bunched up under the dive boat I've seen divers come up with stings from sea wasps because the wasps were attracted to the dive lights.
If you see sea wasps near the surface area or back of the boat, the best thing to do is turn off your light and ascend while also purging your octo thereby blowing those critters away from your ascent and away from your head/hands/neck or any other bare item that could get stung.

 

[gypsyjim]

I like tank markers when group diving. But as far as a light for an ascent, it isn't always a good idea. A number of times I've seen sea wasps that are attracted to your dive lights. When divers are waiting for their turn to surface and they are bunched up under the dive boat I've seen divers come up with stings from sea wasps because the wasps were attracted to the dive lights.
If you see sea wasps near the surface area or back of the boat, the best thing to do is turn off your light and ascend while also purging your octo thereby blowing those critters away from your ascent and away from your head/hands/neck or any other bare item that could get stung.

Amen to that.

Several years ago we were doing a night dive at a resort, and spotted jellies. We devised a dive plan, to return staying on the bottom to the foot of the ladder, check for the nasties. Then, if they were still pressent we would stay on the bottom and all keep the lights off, to not attract them to us in mass, move up to the foot of the ladder, and remove our fins.

Then we would purge a reg, and sweep it in a circle, which drives them away. As soon as we had done that the plan was to very quickly ascend the ladder w/o stopping.

It was a good plan.

It even looked for a minute or two like it was working, until my 12-13yr old son proved that he was not listening during the pre dive planning, and stopped on the ladder, at the surface to remove his fins. :shocked2:

Both he and his sister, who was stuck right behind him got stung. My son spent the evening in the ER, he got that badly burned.

That resort used to have a great big flourescant light on the dock, to facilitate divers gearing up for night dives. It was removed, later, because the light attracts those nasty stinging pests. The ER nurse knew exactly which resort we had come from, because that light had become pretty famous in the ER.

 

[NoToePik]

Hey Jim. Would love to hear your assessment of Bonaire after you return. We were originally planning a trip there, but ended up choosing Little Cayman for the week of June 19.
Still have Bonaire in our sights for a future trip and we're looking for advice. This trip will be all boat diving at LCBR, but would like to try the shore diving in Bonaire.
Any input is appreciated.

 

[Marek K]

A number of times I've seen sea wasps that are attracted to your dive lights.

OK, wait... Sea wasps?? West-Pacific box jellies?

Yet "Caymaniac?"

Hopefully not something else I don't need to tell my daughter (or wife) about in the Caymans...? :shocked2:

 

[shawnor]

Didn't know they were affected by moon phase. Have seen them in Roatan and Bonaire. Roatan was a full moon. Bonaire was multiple dives from waning crescent to waxing crescent. Roatan had more but there were plenty in Bonaire, too.
Leading them with the light toward coral polyps is quite interesting. Arrow and other crabs, cleaner shrimps grab them, too, which is pretty cool to observe.

 

[Divetech Cayman]

We (wife, son, daughter, and I) did one night dive when we were at Sunset House last August, on their house reef.

Daughter (17 at the time) was freaked out by the swarms of critters in the water, attracted to our dive lights. There were (I realize I'm using technical zoological names here) the "squigglies," worm-like things about an inch long - reddish, I seem to remember -- that would coil and writhe. I thought they were cool, but I have to admit they started getting on my nerves toward the end of the dive.

But she really got upset at what she referred to as tiny gnat-like critters, also swarming around her light. I don't recall seeing those, but she sure does.

So much so, that she's reluctant to do a night dive when we return to Grand Cayman this July (staying at Cobalt Coast, this time).

So what were these critters? And are they typical on night dives there?

Bloodworms! Many people have already suggested shining your light on corals, arrow crabs and cleaner shrimp so they'll eat the worms which is always fun to watch.

If your daughter wants to just avoid the bloodworms as much as possible, they are attracted to the torch light so keep moving so they don't swarm! In my experience they are more prevalent in the shallows, so I wait until the very end of the dive to explore there. She might also be interested in wearing a hood (along with a long wetsuit and boots). The skin protection really helps keep them away from your body, for me personally I'm not so bothered by them when I can't feel them.

Hope she has a better experience next time, night diving can be really awesome!

Kelly

 

[agilis]

Bloodworms! Many people have already suggested shining your light on corals, arrow crabs and cleaner shrimp so they'll eat the worms which is always fun to watch.

If your daughter wants to just avoid the bloodworms as much as possible, they are attracted to the torch light so keep moving so they don't swarm! In my experience they are more prevalent in the shallows, so I wait until the very end of the dive to explore there. She might also be interested in wearing a hood (along with a long wetsuit and boots). The skin protection really helps keep them away from your body, for me personally I'm not so bothered by them when I can't feel them.

Hope she has a better experience next time, night diving can be really awesome!

Kelly

This discussion is 12 years old. In addition to the worms the swarming tiny creatures are mostly isopods and copepods.

 

[Bubblesong]

Besides bloodworms, schools of bait fish can go ballistic around diverslights, pelting you like hail. Turning light off briefly is only option, but I’ve thought of bringing a selfie stick with a light on it to hold the light remotely like a lantern and see what shows up to dine on them, such as squids, etc.