The state marine fish of California, the Garibaldi damselfish (full name) is a common sighting off eastern Pacific waters.

Physical description

Garibaldis have the usual damselfish look: steep sloped head, heart shaped caudal fin, and the flowing dorsal and anal fins. However, the most identifying characteristic is their distinctive orange color. In fact, this bright red-orange color provides the fish with its name. It is named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian revolutionary famous for his red shirt.

Juvenile garibaldis are not as bright in color, and often have shiny blue spots which disappear with age.

Garibaldis grow up to 30 cm (12 inches) in length. Between their length and unmistakeable color, they should be easy to spot and identify.

Geography and habitat

As mentioned, garibaldi damselfish call the coastal waters off the western U.S. home. They are particularly common in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the islands of both these cities.

Garibaldi are fiercely protective of their home, particularly when eggs are present. They have even been known to nip at humans who approach too close to a deposit of eggs.

They are found at depths up to 100 feet in rocky areas, which they prefer to call home.

Legislature

Since it’s the state marine fish and all, California has taken measures to protect garibaldi damselfish. This link summarizes the legislation, but in short, you’re not allowed to kill or take garibaldi without a special permit.

Further reading

Wikipedia
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Photo by Stan Shebs

Juvenile photo by Randy Morse

I think for anything important in your life it’s crucial to have goals. Goals make sure you have thought things through and know exactly what you want to get out of life.

Sometime last year, scuba became more than a hobby to me. As such, I’ve been defining goals that describe what I want to get out of this experience. This blog is one such goal, a way for me to share what I learn with others on the internet, and as the sub-title says, a place for divers to spend their time above the water.

One other goal of mine is to become a certified scuba instructor. If you’ve followed the blog for long, you’d know that after finishing my Divemaster certification earlier this year, I am well on my way.

I’m currently on track to become a full-fledged PADI instructor sometime in spring of next year. Why the delay? Time and money, mostly. I have begun my Assistant Instructor certification, although that will allow me to do little more than what I can do with a Divemaster certification.

Why would one want to become an instructor?

• Career. Certainly a possibility to teach scuba for a living. The pay isn’t great, but you get to dive regularly and share your passion with others. This one does not describe me, though.
• Friends & family. As an instructor, you are free to certify your friends and family. Want to go on a scuba trip but don’t have any certified buddy’s to go with? Make your own buddy. As I mentioned, instructor certification is expensive and time-consuming, so this reason alone probably isn’t sufficient, but is more of a perk.
• Knowledge. Going the pro path teaches you more about diving than you thought you’d ever know. You still don’t know everything, but as an instructor you will have fairly in-depth knowledge of most things scuba. I definitely enjoy this part of things, especially learning teaching theory and how people learn.
• That type of person. Some people are just that way. When you get into something, you want to go all the way. Whether you call them Type A or something else, being like this is a strong motivator.
• Comfort. The level of experience you quickly achieve moving through the professional ranks comes along with a level of comfort in the water. This level comes much quicker than just through regular diving. The dissemination of dive skills lets you master each one, increasing your overall comfort in the water. As with certifying your buddies, this one probably isn’t a prime reason to become an instructor, but rather is a side bonus.

These are just a few reasons to become an instructor. I’ll keep you up-to-date on my progress and anything of interest that happens all the way. In the future, I’ll also write about some other scuba goals that I have or am in the process of making.

What do you think about instructor certification? Is it for you? If you already are an instructor, what made you want to do it?

To leave a comment, go to the bottom of the post page. If you are on the homepage, click on the title of this post to go to the post page.

Photo by Martin Burns

People magazine has an article about James Cameron celebrating his birthday by diving to the bottom of the world’s deepest lake. He’ll go in a submersible, of course, like the one used to investigate the Titanic. The lake is Lake Baikal, in Russia.

The New York Times blog reports that you can use scuba to watch a Vegas show. The show is “La Reve” at Wynn Las Vegas. The show involves intricate waterworks and synchronized swimmers, so the package includes watching a “normal” show, then watching another show from underwater, to see how the magic happens. Prices are $2,000 USD for one and $3,000 USD for two. While it could be interesting, for that much money I’d rather spend two weeks in the Caribbean.

Natalie at About.com gives a list of things to do with old scuba cylinders.

Matt Weiss at DivePhotoGuide discusses the pros and cons of fiber optics vs. wired sync cords for connecting strobes to underwater cameras.

The Toronto Sun recently reported that actor Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible, Pulp Fiction) has done some underwater work for a recent film, Piranha 3D. During one trip the actor spotted a “prehistoric” looking creature that he couldn’t identify.¹ This freaked him out so much that he “hasn’t done any scuba diving since.”

That’s a little bit silly, but he relates some truth:

I really feel that there are things in the ocean that we have no idea about. I think there’s so much we don’t know and the unknown in the ocean; every 10 years or so we find some fossil that’s been there before mankind.

I find it funny that we can have the same exactly feelings about something, yet reach opposite conclusions. What keeps him out of the water is what draws me to it. If you’ve gleaned anything from The Diving Blog’s fish identification series, it’s that I enjoy learning new species of sea critters, as I imagine many divers do.

Mr. Rhames has my sympathy. He is disturbed significantly by one of the very reasons why I dive.

Is the draw of the unknown one of the reasons you keep getting in the water? Let us know in the comments.

1 – From his description, “a combination of a catfish and something with a large oblongish-type head”, what do you think he saw? Maybe a humphead wrasse?

Being a hogfish, the Spanish hogfish is part of the wrasse family.

Physical description

Spanish hogfish have the common appearance of most hogfish. Namely, the pointed snout that they use to root through the sea bottom. Spanish hogfish are 10-13 inches (25-33 cm) long, although fish who eat their Wheaties can definitely grow larger.

Spanish hogfish also have streamlined dorsal and anal fins which trail back. Along with the pointed tips of the caudal fin, this gives them an aerodynamic appearance.

Juvenile Spanish hogfish have an almost entirely yellow body, except for the upper front quarter, which is a purplish or possibly blue color. This is the Spanish hogfish’s most distinguishing characteristic. As they get older, the yellow fades into darker colors, like brown.

Geography and habitat

Despite their name, Spanish hogfish are not from Spain. The live in the warm Caribbean waters, only as far north as southern Florida and down to Brazil.

They live on the reef at depths as shallow as 3 meters down to 30 meters. They are constantly prowling for food. Look for them rooting on the sea bottom, or, if you’re fortunately, catch the juveniles cleaning other fish like snappers. Fish will open their mouths and gills, allowing the Spanish hogfish free access for cleaning.

Further reading

Wikipedia
FishBase

Juvenile photo by VenturaB.

Photo by brian.gratwicke

Last week I mentioned PADI was making their Rescue Diver course available for eLearning. PADI Instructor News has the details. One interesting note, instructors have to give students an in-person quiz to ensure they adequately learned the material from online.

Aquaviews profiles the Dutch Springs dive site. It’s a retired rock quarry used for check-out dives. I thought I should add a more somber note to the tone of the article. Bottom line, Dutch Springs is really only worth going to for certification dives, and then only if there’s no where else you can go. Visibility is low, the water is freezing, and there’s nothing really to see. I don’t think many people go there just for the sake of diving.

Those familiar with Bonaire are probably familiar with the Bonaire webcams. Diverwire reports that there are several new webcams up, including some underwater.

DivePhotoGuide posted a crazy little story about running into an alligator while diving. Included are pictures and videos. Read the story for the surprise ending. For those that know their reptiles, I already told you the surprise.

Wishing everyone out there a pleasant Hump Day!

Dive for a while, and you’re bound to run into a fish named after Commerson. But just who is Commerson, and why is so much named after him?

Philibert Commerson was a French naturalist from the mid-18th century. He is best known—especially for fish lovers—for circumnavigating the globe with Louise Antoine de Bougainville from 1766-1769. An astute observer, Commerson discovered many species of fish, as well as trees and plants.

• Commerson’s dolphin. We saw this species in our guide to dolphins article. Commerson discovered this dolphin in the Strait of Magellan.
• Commerson’s frogfish. As with many circumnavigators, the Pacific was a great opportunity for European exploration, so this species of frogfish was particularly exciting. Look for it around the islands of Hawaii.
• Common sucker. This sucker fish’s genus name is Catostomus Commerson, and is sometimes called a sand sucker. It’s fairly common in the United States.
• Commerson’s anchovy. Yup, he even has his own anchovy. These little guys live around Australia and Southern Asia.
• Commerson’s glassy. This tiny fish can be found off the coast of Africa, where Commerson spent the end of his life.
• Commerson’s sole. This fish has hardly any distinguishable fins. It lives in the mud in brackish waters in the Indo-West Pacific.
• Commerson’s mackerel. A type of Spanish mackerel in the west Pacific.
• Commerson’s sea pike. This is basically another name for a Great Barracuda.

Quite a list, and I’m not even sure that it’s exhaustive. If anything, it shows that it pays off to be the first to go somewhere with an observant eye.

On the return trip to France in 1769, Commerson opted to stay behind on the islands of Mauritius and Madagascar. He died 4 years later.

Photo by prilfish

FayObserver.com published an article yesterday on sharks and scuba divers. The article is a part of a common attempt to dispel the myth of man-hunting sharks.

One diver interviewed for the article, Hank Parfitt, frequently swims alongside shark, and even acts as a shark wrangler for underwater photo shoots. The most practical bit of the article is Parfitt’s tip on giving an angry shark its space.

When is a shark angry? Parfitt gives three signs:

1. Pectoral fins angled down. A neutral to happy shark will swim with its pectoral (side) fins straight out, like an airplane. If you see them angled down, the shark is upset, hungry, defensive, or some non-friendly emotion. Give it some distance.
2. Arched back. My guess is that an arched back is like a spring, getting the shark ready to dart at potential food or something it feels may harm it.
3. Shaking its head back and forth. In conjunction with the previous two, a shark shaking its head like it’s saying “no” is not happy and may be aggressive.

Calm sharks are easy to observe. A few brave like Parfitt will even touch the shark, but always in front of the dorsal fin. Like all animals, the rear is particularly vulnerable, so avoid sneaking up on a shark (even if it’s unintentional). When treated with the respect they deserve, scuba diving with sharks can be a great experience.