This Internship has provided me with many wonderful opportunities to partake in some of the other ongoing projects. Since my checkout dive, I have taken part in 5 dives with Aquaculture team to the Cobia Cage.
This Video is of a descent to the cage taken on October 6th, 2012 my 5th dive to the cage. I think the coolest part of this video is the audio.
As part of CEI's offshore aquaculture program, cobia are raised to marketable size in an offshore cage constructed to hold thousands of fish. This cage is located about 4 km off shore and stretches from around 20 ft below the surface to 95 ft on the ocean floor. (
http://www.ceibahamas.org/aquaculture.aspx).
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| Google Earth Map of South Eleuthera with location of Cage relative to CEI |
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| Looking up at the top of the cage from the rim at 50 ft |
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| Safety stop at 15 ft looking down at the top of the cage |
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| Bottom of the cage at 95 ft |
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| Image of a Cobia, Courtesy of NOAA |
While diving at the cage I helped to clean off the algae growth that builds up on the mesh. The first few times I used a scrub brush (which really isn't all that effective). One morning we went out at 6:30 am to scrub and feed the cobia. Students from the Island School came along to dive or free dive with us.
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| Me scrubbing the cage!! Yes that is a barracuda photo bombing this pic |
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| This is the 4 ft (that's right!) long barracuda that hangs out at the cage |
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| Same barracuda. This photo was taken when he wouldn't leave me alone! Kept eyeing my watch and camera like it was food |
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| Free divers enjoying an early morning swim at the cage |
Now because of the massive amounts of fish in the cage, as well as those swimming around on the outside, this attracts all kinds of predatory species. Sharks are a common visitor to see. However, it wasn't until my 3rd dive to the cage I saw my first shark. It was on the early morning dive, and as I was waiting for my dive buddy to finish taking flow conditions at the rim, I looked down and saw something moving on the ocean floor. The shark was moving like it owned the place! It was a bull shark. In fact, I was later told that this was "big fatty" the massive 2 1/2 m long bull that likes to hang out around the cage.
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| Let's play a game of spot the shark! |
The 4th time I went out to the cage I was helping use the new pressure washer. This makes the work done by the scrub brush look like I used a tooth brush! This pressure washer is pretty hilarious to use. The force of it is so strong that it shoots you backwards off the cage. One of the Aquaculture Interns described it as being like a cartoon character who is sitting on a balloon when it pops and proceeds to shoot them all around the room! Fortunately for me when I used the pressure washer I had a harness which got attached to the cage. But I could still feel the force (star wars reference not intended) of it. In fact, because of this, I was overly focused on the task at hand: trying to clean the cage without falling over! After about 25 minutes I checked my gauge and noticed I had 1000 psi left in my tank so I look up to find my dive buddy and I see him staring intently right at me! I think "that's weird, do I have algae in my hair or something", and motion to him that I have to head to my safety stop. Once I get back on the boat I mention to the others that I hadn't seen a shark today. The others said that "big fatty" was hanging around the rim of the cage when they dove an hour earlier. I look at my dive buddy and say I didn't see him, and he gives me a look and says "that's because he was swimming a few feet behind you the whole time"...well, that explained why he was looking at me weird earlier. Good thing I didn't know this or I would have gone through my air a lot faster!
I went out last Saturday (October 6th) and we encountered two other bull sharks at 95 ft (bottom of the cage) when we were attempting to move some cinder blocks. One of the aquaculture interns was on shark patrol and would chase one after the other away as we worked. Not going to lie, there was some hesitation to move on my part....definitely enough to enlist an "are you ok?" gesture from my dive buddy. After what happened last time I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure there wasn't a shark wearing a napkin around his neck holding a fork and knife ready to devour me!
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| Aquaculture Intern being Badass on shark patrol! |
All around amazing experience, and you will definitely find me at the cage every Saturday!!
Until next time!
Sincerely,
Your Sharkbait (Hoo Ha Ha!) Field Biologist
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