Yesterday evening a group of divers, I was one of them, went for a night dive at the Superior Producer wreck. The sea was calm so the entry into the water was easy. There was only a light current to the East.
At around 8:15 PM I saw the first Ruby and Banded Arm Brittle Stars on top of the coral. That alerted me because normally you see these kind of brittle stars hardly ever outside the spawning period. A few minutes later I saw a red worm swimming freely in the water; another sign of upcoming spawning and indeed, as soon as I pointed my light towards the worm, a cloud of eggs was released. Not much later I also saw a male worm spawning (no eggs, just a cloud). So it was definitely happening. We saw it happen several times during the dive.
This is not really unusual because Reefcare reports on their website (Reefcare Foundation Curacao) that it was seen in previous years in August 3 days after the full moon. Yesterday it was 5 days after full moon.
The "normal spawning" period is in September 4 to 9 days after full moon with a peek around the 7th day after full moon. In October there is a second spawning roughly covering the same period after full moon. This year the September period will be from the 19th till the 24th and in October from the 19th till the 23rd. Details can be found at the Reefcare website. Just be patient when the schedule is loading. They have put a 4 MB Jpeg file on their website with the full schedule. It takes quite some time before it is loaded.
So, if you are in Curacao during on of these periods plan for a night dive. Make that a very relaxed dive at a shallow depth. Don't swim large distances, just look around and watch carefully for anything unexpected. There is no guarantee that you will see anything but if you are there when in happens it's a very special experience.
Happy diving
At around 8:15 PM I saw the first Ruby and Banded Arm Brittle Stars on top of the coral. That alerted me because normally you see these kind of brittle stars hardly ever outside the spawning period. A few minutes later I saw a red worm swimming freely in the water; another sign of upcoming spawning and indeed, as soon as I pointed my light towards the worm, a cloud of eggs was released. Not much later I also saw a male worm spawning (no eggs, just a cloud). So it was definitely happening. We saw it happen several times during the dive.
This is not really unusual because Reefcare reports on their website (Reefcare Foundation Curacao) that it was seen in previous years in August 3 days after the full moon. Yesterday it was 5 days after full moon.
The "normal spawning" period is in September 4 to 9 days after full moon with a peek around the 7th day after full moon. In October there is a second spawning roughly covering the same period after full moon. This year the September period will be from the 19th till the 24th and in October from the 19th till the 23rd. Details can be found at the Reefcare website. Just be patient when the schedule is loading. They have put a 4 MB Jpeg file on their website with the full schedule. It takes quite some time before it is loaded.
So, if you are in Curacao during on of these periods plan for a night dive. Make that a very relaxed dive at a shallow depth. Don't swim large distances, just look around and watch carefully for anything unexpected. There is no guarantee that you will see anything but if you are there when in happens it's a very special experience.
Happy diving
