My first camera dive

My mobility was not improving with my walking and swimming. My weak left leg was in constant pain, radiating from my left buttock down to the outside of my left calf muscle. I was in pain even when I was lying in bed, doing nothing. Deep tissue massages gave some very temporary relief. I was becoming concerned about how the summer would play out if I was not mobile enough to walk my walks and get in and out of busses and dive boats.

Apparently October and November is the best time to dive in Mauritius – I was expecting exciting dives outside the reef with my dive buddy, who was flying in from Europe for a fortnight of diving and bringing me a small Action Camera. However my excitement was becoming carefully more realistic as my pain levels increased.

As soon as my buddy arrived, we booked our first dive for 27 October 2024 and on the day he assisted the skipper to help me into the dive boat after I handed down my walking stick. Depending on the tide, it was becoming increasingly difficult to step down from the jetty and maintain my balance as I tried to find my feet on deck.

We were diving Pointe Wahoo, a site that goes down to 22 m and is known for endless blue vistas, tunnels and a fabulous arch. Air and water temperatures were comfortable at 25-28 °C and in my short wetsuit and with perfect buoyancy, I felt so much better than on land!  This, my first camera dive, felt positively promising as we started our descent above a school of Batfish.

I was fiddling with my camera, hanging just above some coral, when a movement underneath me drew my attention. The funny characteristic face of a Blenny was looking out from a hole, staring at me, it seemed, with more curiosity than mine. Their large eyes turn them into little Disney characters, easily missed as a result of being so small and their quick retreats into their holes. (The Moors called the Moorish Idols, “Bringers of Happiness”.)  I call Blennies – “Givers of Smiles”.

Swimming through an underwater tunnel is always a highlight in my log book. Entering the narrow space and swimming into the darkness, following the beam of my torch, raises a sense of anticipation and excitement. Pointe Wahoo did exactly that. The reward was big, when the bluest light appeared at the end of the darkness and grew in size, becoming the exit allowing an escape into the vast blue of the open sea.

Twirling around I looked back at the tunnel exit, I was surprised at exactly how small it seemed just then, because when swimming the tunnel, the darkness hides how very narrow it is. Then I turned away and the wide blue vistas with our long bubble trails rising to the surface reminded me that we were deeper than my familiar inside the reef dives.

 As the dive was nearing its close I was fortunate to see a Clown Triggerfish.  The highlight of any dive would be a sighting of this designer fish. This one was smaller than my previous sighting, but carrying the recognisable large white spots on the shiny black body and yellow lipstick with a thin white lip liner, matching the yellow and black freckled design around the first dorsal fin – one would expect to see this grand design being flaunted on a catwalk in Paris!

We also saw a majestic Crown-of-thorns Starfish and it was in a position where I could get a good photograph!  With perfect buoyancy and some images on my camera I was very content to hang at our safety stop looking down into the vast blue, which I usually leave very reluctantly. This time however, I was curious to see what I captured with my little AGFA AC7000, knowing that my first shot was a fabulous Batfish!

By Lynette Gerber-Lochenkov