Posts Tagged ‘tioman’

It was another beautiful day in Tioman, as a group of Deep Blue divers took to the waters of Pulau Jahat during the weekend of 4th July 2010.

The initial entry by the nine divers from Singapore, Phillipines and Australia into the flat crystal blue waters brewed much anticipation in all of the divers. The promise of stunning cliff faces and the Elephant rock was the dive plan. However after diving past the island, a current put those plans to rest.

The next plan was to let the current do the work and turn the dive into a drift dive to the other end of Pulau Jahat, hence drift away from the Elephant rock. Sandy bottoms dotted with massive giant mushroom corals provided the divers with many areas to explore.  One section of coral held a fish trap and a very successful fish trap it was. Upon further investigation by the divers, there was a pair of yellow box fish, numerous coral trout and wrasses and low and behold two baby nurse sharks. Alex who was leading the dive, checked the rope and noticed that this was not attached to a buoy and showed signs of algae growth, which  clearly indicated that this was a death trap to all creatures caught inside now and for the future.

The group proceeded to search for a way to release these trapped creatures. However there was no door to be found. The divers then noticed that the door was located on the bottom of the trap and proceeded to all help turn the trap over. The wire door was then released and FREEDOM! The first to lethargically swim out to freedom was the nurse shark, this was slowly followed by the other weakly fishes caught in this death trap. Upon surfacing, all the divers realized that this was a small contribution to the saving of the sharks, but nonetheless, it was two sharks. Lets hope that other lost fish traps are able to be similarly made safe or not used by fisherman at all.

A couple of box fish trapped in the cage

A variety of fish including 2 nurse sharks trapped in an abandoned fishing cage.

Deep Blue Divers to the rescue. Using dive knives, they cut open the cage's mesh frame to free the helpless sea creatures!

A freed nurse shark swims out of the cage to freedom!

Article Contributed by:
Alex Chin
PADI OWSI
Deep Blue Scuba

I have always loved LOB. What could be more interesting and convenient in diving than to be with a
group of fun-loving fellows diving off a live aboard dive boat. You eat, dive, eat, joke, dive, have fun,
eat, sleep, dive; and the cycle repeats .. and repeats… and repeats. And with a live aboard, you can go
to remote dive sites and cover a wider dive location.
17 of us went on a LOB over last weekend; just a normal weekend type of dive trip—departing on a
Friday evening and returning on the Sunday evening but the LOB dive trip turned out to be more than a
normal typical dive trip.
We covered the northern waters of Tioman, the eastern coast of Pemanggil and the dive sites in familiar
Aur, all in a weekend. We dived wrecks and submerged reefs normally inaccessible to dive boats from
island resorts, and explored new bays which are hardly dived.
But then again, diving is not just about diving. Diving is about having fun with fellow divers. Diving
is about having good food between dives. Diving is also about sharing jokes, talking-cock, merrymaking
and more.
And after each dive, no matter whether the dive site was good or the dive conditions were bad, we were
treated with delicious food and snacks: sumptuous breakfast with choice of cereals, bread and noodles;
buffet spread of fish, prawns, chicken, vegetables and omelet for lunch; BBQ dinner with grilled beef,
shrimps, chicken wings and red wine; and spring rolls, chocolate cake and ice cream for afternoon tea!
I went about taking pictures, not just underwater pictures but also taking candid shots of divers on the
surface, on the boat, having meals, joking, etc. We don’t just let down our hair to have fun. We even
let down our pants! Well, not we, just one of us. And not let down the pants to have fun the way u
think. In the midst of excitement and spontaneity, this funny chap pulled down his pants and faced the
white cheeks of his buttocks towards the camera!
And some jokes are never too old to be told over and over again. Jokes which I have first heard 2 dive
seasons ago were again brought up and the laughters never seemed to reduce. I need not wonder why
the girls were more wary of raising their arms after hearing our jokes.
In just 2 days, we had so much fun, so much food, so much laughers. And it wasn’t just about diving, it
was also about meeting new friends and doing new things.

Location: Tioman, Pemanggil and Aur