By Gemma Thomas
Just how did 6 keen divers manage to take 2776 depth measurements, measure water quality and film the Salang Menagerie over three days, as well as spend some time watching the plethora of wildlife the site has to offer? Keep reading to find out what they did:
Friday 26th October 2012
After arriving in Tioman, there was a great deal of pre-dive preparation, before we could hit the water and start collecting the data. Teams were assigned, equipment handed out, a brief description of the site was given, and the goals for the weekend were explained:
Team one consisted of Jun Shea and Keith, both diving singles. They would be taking depth measurements beginning at the 0m mark.
Team two consisted of Eric and Anders on doubles. They would be taking depth measurements beginning at the 48m mark.
Both of these teams carried a container to collect water samples at the four corners of the site during the first dive, which would be analysed during the surface interval. They also carried a data sheet, clipboard, several pencils, depth gauges, cable ties and a measuring tape. They would collect depth readings at 1m intervals over the entire site. By attaching the measuring tape to the markings on the 12m line and reeling out to the 3m line and securing the tape to the corresponding marking they would be able to record the depth a 1m intervals between the two perimeter lines.
Team three consisted of Gemma and Maita on doubles as well. They would be filming the perimeter of the site and photographing the entire site. They each carried a GoPro camera and several spools to mark out segments of the reef to photograph. They were also asked to film the wildlife that calls Salang its home and shots of divers working on the site.
With their objectives laid out the divers geared up and hit the water.
Dive 1
Time In: 11.52
Time Out: 13.46
Dive Time: 114 mins
Max Depth: 12.8m
Average Depth: 7.0m
Temp: 30C
The divers descended down the 12m descent line and headed for the site. As this was the first time most of the divers had seen the site, they were taken on a tour around the site by Gemma, before starting work on collecting data. They were shown the concrete blocks which mark the corners and hold the line at regular intervals along the 12m and 3m horizontal perimeter lines. They were shown the cable ties which were placed along the perimeter line at 1m intervals. In some places, the algae had grown so much since the line was laid in May that you had to feel for the markers. They also saw the plastic tags with engraved numbers at 5m intervals. During the tour portion of the dive, several schools of fish were seen, but none of the other residents of the reef. The plan was to dive to minimum gas, so Team One would surface before the others, and after the tour the three teams split up and began to work. During the tour each diver collected their water sample at their respective corner.
Jun and Keith headed to the most northerly end of the site, which is mostly sand even at the 3m line. Eric and Anders headed to the 48m line, which starts off sandy at the deeper end, before quickly transforming into a massive coral growth towards the 3m line. Both teams made good progress during this initial dive.
Gemma and Maita set about filming over the lines, swimming from the 0m mark to the 100m mark over the 12m line using the proper flutter kick to try and film at a constant speed. They then repeated this filming while looking up the slope, so people would have a good idea of what the site looks like before they get to see it for real. They then repeated this filming over the 3m line and filmed looking down the slope too. Finally they filmed over the lines going from 12 to 3m at both the 0m and 100m ends of the site.
They then set about taking photographs of the reef that would be combined later to provide a photo stitch of the site. Maita laid out two 45m spools at the 1 and 2m marks while Gemma took the photographs. This was a very slow process and it was impossible to know if any part of the transect had been missed. Soon enough though, hunger got the better of Teams Two and Three and they headed back to shore to join Jun and Keith for lunch.
The surface interval was spent taking water readings using the portable pH meter and trying to figure out a better way to photograph the site. It was decided they would try to film the transects, which would be a quicker process, then convert the videos to photos during post production.
Before the second dive of the day everyone was reminded to look out for the inhabitants of the reef, and not be so engrossed in their work that they didn’t enjoy what was around them along the way. So after lunch, the 6 divers hit the water again.
Dive 2
Time In: 16.12
Time Out: 18.33
Dive Time: 141 mins
Max Depth: 13.1m
Average Depth: 8.2m
Temp: 30C
Surface Interval: 2:25
As Jun and Keith were diving singles and were working at the most northerly end of the site they swam out on the surface with the others, then followed the 3m line from the surface before descending. The others descended as soon as they had hit the 3m line. As luck would have it, they descended right next to Grouchy the resident Hawksbill turtle. After following Grouchy for a while, they met a larger turtle who isn’t often seen. This larger turtle was happily munching on some coral and neither turtle seemed particularly bothered by the divers presence. Anders and Eric continued with their depth measurements while Gemma and Maita began filming. So as to minimize any interference between teams Gemma and Maita headed to the 100m end of the site.
Team Three was equipped with three 45m spools which were laid out and secured to the 99, 98 and 97m marks. With these boundaries in place the 1m wide strip of reef, between the 99 and 100m marks was filmed. The process was repeated and each strip was filmed up slope. Once the filming was complete, the reels were spooled in and then moved to the next meter mark and unreeled. After 2 hours, the girls found they had only filmed 10 lines and due to the constant changes in pressure were having issues equalizing their ears. There had to be a better way to do this if they were going to be able to finish the job. Luckily the other two teams had been making excellent progress in recording the depth measurements. Soon enough hunger again got the better of the divers and they headed back for dinner.
Eric and Anders had spent a lot of time with Grouchy that afternoon. At one point, they even had to lift the line over him to continue working. They’d had some issues to deal with too. As the sun was setting the sea urchins had come out, and they seemed to want to be at the meter markings where the depths were recorded. Eric had to thread his hand between the sea urchins just to get the reading. Good effort! Jun and Keith on the other hand had seen nothing. No turtle, so sea urchins, just the occasional fish.
Saturday 27th October 2012
Dive 3
Time In: 9.05
Time Out: 11.45
Dive Time: 160 mins
Max Depth: 13.4m
Average Depth: 7.9m
Temp: 30C
Continuing where they had left off the previous day, Jun and Keith headed to their sandy end of the site, Eric and Anders continued over the sea urchin riddled reef and Gemma and Maita looked for ways to improve the filming and help their ears. Grouchy was back again, this time hiding in a little coral cave while the divers worked just beside him. Mr Cuttlefish was also spotted, displaying his arms for all to see. Even Jun and Keith, at the sandy end of the site, got to see a family of stingrays. One of whom even swam into their line while they were setting it up, although they still missed Grouchy.
After 1 hour Gemma and Maita still had a mountain of work ahead of them. They had only managed to film 6 strips. There really had to be a more efficient way. Maita became chief spool handler, while the filming was entirely entrusted to Gemma (whose previous underwater videography consisted of stealing peoples cameras occasionally). They also decided to start filming down the reef as well as up the reef. This would reduce the number of widths they would have to swim. This helped them become more efficient and they were soon nearing the region Anders and Eric were working in. This seemed like an ideal time to film them working. By the end of dive one, Gemma and Maita only had 71 lines left to film, while the others were still making good progress on the depth measurements and looked like they would finish with time to spare.
Dive 4
Time In: 15.15
Time Out: 17.53
Dive Time: 158 mins
Max Depth: 12.1m
Average Depth: 8.2m
Temp: 30C
Surface Interval: 3:28
The filming and depth measurements continued and the turtles and cuttlefish continued to hang around the divers. By the end of another long dive, all the depth measurements had been completed, except for half a line, and the filming only had 48 lines to go. A truly monumental effort from all involved.
Sunday 28th October 2012
Dive 5
Time In: 8.43
Time Out: 11.08
Dive Time: 145 mins
Max Depth: 14.0m
Average Depth: 8.5m
Temp: 30C
It was the final day of the Tioman season for 2012, and the divers who had just completed their fundamentals course came to assist with the conservation work. There was a slight reorganization of the teams, as Keith went off to see if he’d have better luck seeing some wildlife with the leisure divers, so Jun and Anders worked together to finish the final half a line of depth measurements. They also used the Secchi disk to work out the visibility at all four corners of the site and record the temperature and time. This time the remaining divers split into two teams of three to try and film the remaining 48 lines in one dive.
Eric led Giovanni and Joakim to the sandy end of the site, which is also the widest, with the 45m spools, while Gemma and Maita continued where they had left off the day before, in the central portion of the site. This is also the narrowest part of the site so 30m spools are more than sufficient to mark out the lines. The two teams worked hard, and despite spending most of the dive over the sand, there was a surprising amount to see. Mr Snake Eel even treated us to a displaying of his hunting prowess. In the end it was the cameras that failed, with only 1 line to go, both batteries began to die. Squeezing every last ounce of power out of them, the filming of that final line was just about achieved. A remarkable effort from all those involved, relying on team work and determination to get the job done.
With almost 4.5 hours of video footage and 2776 data points recorded, the raw data was handed over to Leon to begin the development of a baseline for the Salang Menagerie that will be built upon in the years to come.
After the trip I think everyone agreed it had been tough but rewarding; we’d been graced by the presence of Mr Grouchy and his friend throughout the weekend, witnessed a snake eel hunting, seen stingrays swim into lines and laid lines over a well camouflaged cuttlefish. It just goes to show that we are lucky to call Salang our home, it has so much to offer, we just need to keep our eyes open. As Maita said, “it’s nice to do a dive with a specific objective and to see some results from it, makes the overland trip worthwhile”. Eric and the Fundies guys all agreed that it’s an excellent way to put the skills you learn during the Fundamentals course to good use. A brilliant way to practice buoyancy control and as Eric says, “Its even more important when you are working so close to a sea urchin”.
We learnt much more about running a trip incorporating the conservation work, so thank you for being our guinea pigs. Hopefully the project will go from strength to strength next year with more eager volunteers who will get to meet the true residents of the Salang Menagerie.
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