Tenerife under water

2010 Aqualung Suunto catalogues

2010-02-19T12:15:00.002+00:00

The 2010 Aqualung Spain catalogues are now available on the net.

Discover all the novelties Aqualung / Suunto available in the Canary Islands:

- Download the 2010 Aqualung catalogue.

- Download the 2010 Suunto catalogue.

This is it, for now...

2009-12-24T09:16:00.003+00:00

Dear Blog lovers,

Unfortunatelly I won't be able to translate my blog in English anymore. I'm spending already too much time underwater!

You can still follow my adventures in :

Spanish : TENERiFE bajo el agua

French : TENERiFE sous l'eau

I wish you all good dives, and as I said, see you underwater!

Christmas Suunto Pack

2009-12-05T09:56:00.002+00:00

This year, the Christmas Suunto Pack arrives in the Canaries.

Click on the image to see it bigger

And if you are interested in it, here is a list of the mayor Aqualung sale points in the Canaries.

New marine species discovered in Lanzarote

2009-09-02T11:48:00.010+01:00

Cave diving always brings new discoveries... And this is what happened in Lanzarote when cave divers found new species of crustacean: Speleonectes atlantida n. sp., the second member of the Remipedia family.

Divers explore the cave tunnel during 8 dives and collected six Speleonectes atlantida n. sp. They were able to find specimens during dives up to 1000m penetration at 30m depth. This new specie looks similar to the Speleonectes ondinae, but shows some differences in body and behaviour.

After DNA analysis, marine biologist confirmed that this one is endemic to the Canary Islands, and assignes to the genus Speleonectes. It has a body length up to 20 mm, with 23–24 trunk segments with a head shield sub rectangular, slightly longer than trunk segments.

Based on the data collected during the Atlántida Expedition, the specialists think that the Corona lava tube is a much more complex cave system than previously assumed. It has an estimated age of 20,000 years, which is relatively young and it may reserve more surprises…

To know more about this discovery: Springerlink.com

Second control campaign of the lime sea urchin

2009-09-01T17:04:00.005+01:00

In collaboration with the Town Hall of Arona and Ben Magec "Ecologistas en Acción", the dive clubs and dive centres from las Galletas organize a second control campaign of the sea urchin Diadema Antilarum.

This eradication campaign in the Yellow Mountain area is a part of the “Micro Marine Reserve” project implemented by “Ecologistas in Acción”. You can download the document here. (in Spanish).

The divers who wish to take part to the project can get in touch with the dive centres who are collaborating:

Saturday 05th of September at 12:30pm:

- Atlantic Divers
- Buceo Tenerife
- Coral Sub
- Dive Tenerife
- Ocean Diving Tenerife
- Tenerife Dive
- Tenerife Scuba

CABOcanarias will also take part into the event on Saturday.

After the dive, will be organize a paella and some T-shirt will be offered to the divers who participates.

Infos about the first campaign.

Invitation for the first campaign.

1st Social of digital underwater photography SIBSUB

2009-08-24T18:15:00.001+01:00

Come on! Do not hesitate to register to the 1st Social of digital underwater photography SIBSUB.

The inscriptions close on the 6th of September.

More info and event rules on the WEB Sibora-mar.

Click on the picture to see the board:

Diadema antillarum

2009-08-23T13:49:00.018+01:00

The sea urchin Diadema antillarum, which belongs to the echinoderm family like sea stars or sea cucumbers, is present on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also known as lime urchin, black sea urchin or long-spined sea urchin. It can reach between two to 12 cm diameter and it has a black colour with large fine spines, easily breakable and mobile. The Diadem sea urchin is present in Macaronesia long time before the human beings. It is named Diadema antillarum-b (DNA tests).

This sea urchin is preferably herbivorous but it can turn into a terrible omnivorous predator according to food resource availability. It owns a five teeth mouth placed on the posterior part of its body and it can feed from everything: algae, sponges, but also organic pieces or even rubbish. The size on the sea urchin depends on the quantity of food available. If there are many nutrients available, it reaches its larger size (vertical diameter of 10 /12 cm) and its size decreases proportionally with the lake of food. But that does not mean that the number of sea urchin decreases, all the opposite. With many nutrients, they are large and in small number, but with few nutrients, the number of sea urchin per square metre dramatically increases.

In the water, we can not differentiate the males from the females. The sea urchin reproduces all year long, with a reproduction peak in the Canary Islands during spring. Fecundation is coordinated by the full Moon and takes place in water. The planktonic larvae can drift during two months before landing on the sea bed and change themselves into “baby urchin”.

The sea urchins move upon any surface, including vertical walls or sandy bottom. During day light, they appear motionless but they are very active at night.

The sea urchin Diadema antillarum is a species which forms vast groups on the rock formations, by seeking shelter in caves or cracks. They are not only trying to protect themselves from predators but also from water movements. A sea urchin which shifts is an opportunity for a puffer fish or a parrot fish… Studies shows that this specie can move up to six metres away from its shelter and generally goes back there at dawn.

If lime sea urchins are surprised by the day light on a sandy bottom, they gather as the Roman troops from the Antiquity. They form blocks of sea urchins, impenetrable and resistant to the currents. When we approach them at half - metre distance, they identify our presence thanks to photosensitive sensors, and answer each change of light by a frantic dance of their spines as a warning sign.

The same phenomenon occurs when a predator approaches them. A sea urchin can flee at full speed when a sea star stays at finger’s range. We know little about the Canarian predators of the Diadema sea urchin. Its long spines, the round shape of its body, his night lifestyle reduce the list considerably. In the Canaries, there is not only one species which can control its distribution on its own, but indeed a set of several species. The lake of natural predators is one of the reasons why the Diadema sea urchin proliferates on our coasts.

Studies made by the University of Las Palmas from Gran Canaria showed a clear relation between the lake of big size carnivorous fishes with high fishing value and the actual huge density of sea urchins. The direct consequence is that the blanquizales (rocky area devastated by the sea urchins), increase their surface dramatically. The actual density of sea urchins is so big that it breaks the food chain. Impossible for Mother Nature to go back to normal. The few algae (at the beginning of the food chain) which grow during the day are systematically devoured at night.

Several actions are taken to try to control the number of sea urchins in specific zones, but it is a titanic work, since only one tenth of the quantity of sea urchins present in a blanquizal can keep it like it is… A draconian control of fishing activities is thus necessary to leave a chance to the nature to produce new predators, and in great numbers.

One of the reasons of the expansion of the blanquizal is the massive use of fish traps (like bow nets). This non selective fishing way leads to the overexploitation of the Canarian littoral. According to the study, around 70% the Canarian artisanal fleet practises this kind of fishing. Personally, I have never seen in diving a bow net carrying its registration number (obligatory according to the law…). And moreover, we do not have luck since the minimal depth to place fish traps is brought back to 12 meters in Tenerife, instead of 18 meters in the other Canarian islands. Logic should not be to prohibit fishing with this kind of huge fish traps at shallow depth, precisely where the sea urchins live, until complete environmental recovery?

Underwater cleaning Aguaviva Canarias 2009

2009-08-13T23:21:00.005+01:00

On Saturday the 29th of August 2009 at 10am, the service “medio ambiente” of the Town hall of Arona invite us to take part into the underwater cleaning of the festival Aguaviva Canarias 2009.

The activities will be done on the beach of Las Vistas, Arona.

The branch of diving equipment Aqualung sponsors the event and its authorized technical service will give to the first 60 participating diving a present. The morning activites will finished around a big “paella” on the beach.

It is necessary to register in advance to take part into the event. Do not hesitate to contact CABOcanarias (info@cabocanarias.com), coordinator of the activity.

And you, do you like the oceans? Helps them, register!

Cueva el Palm-Mar

2009-08-01T17:13:00.009+01:00

Dive from boat - intermediate level.

The cave (cueva in Spanish) of el Palm-Mar is half way from Las Galletas to Los Cristianos, just in front of the real-estates monster which composes the mushroom town of El Palm-Mar.

The vertical cliffs of the mountain of Guaza take shape at the horizon. While arriving on site, the glances turn to the piscicultural farms at about fifty meters from us. It is very frequent to see dolphins between the net cages. But the area is formally prohibited in order not to disturb the production. It is 10 hours am and it is already the rush hour with the presence on site of two other scuba dive centres from las Galletas and a third one from los Cristianos. This time the descent is done inside a continuous bubbles flow, it is crowded down there. We cross away the plateau at about 15 metres depth. Tiny air bubbles escape between the algae and the rock. In fact, the plateau is the roof of the cave, huge, and the bubbles which escape from it belong to our predecessors.

We will visit the cave on our way back. Our objective is a little deeper. Three large rock pitons rise above the sandy bottom, majestic. Formerly, a statue of dolphin decorated one of them. Time, bad treatments from the divers and certainly a waterproof kleptomaniac get rid of it. We glide slowly between the abrupt rocks. Signs on the sand clearly indicate that we may find rays in the neighbourhood and especially butterfly rays. Garden eels are present as far as the eye can see. We scan the blue in search of pelagic, small tunas or big hamber jacks.

It is at 33 metres than we stop the descent, just at the feet of the Nuestra Señora del Carmen's impressive statue, fishermen patron saint. The most impressive is the lack of marine life around this statue. Lizard fishes certainly dissuaded the poor young damselfish to settle down there. The statue offers only few hidden recesses to be protect from them, and without means of defence, the other fishes would become then an easy prey. I carry out a slow 360° degree to enjoy the beauty of the blue, in search of an heralding shadow. But the group begins its ascent and I join quickly my dive buddy.

We move then in the cave direction. On the way, it appears me to have crossed more divers than trumpet fishes. Where the Hell are they? But we already arrived at our next stop. A cross was placed down there, at the entrance of the cave. Down on my knees, my eyes do not cease going and coming from the cross to the darkness of the cave. This shape of dark open mouth does not stop reminding me about the safety instructions given during the briefing: “this cave is dangerous, several divers have died, lost inside, and this cross is there in order that we do not forget about it: so we do not enter”. A beautiful sea star climbs with an extreme slowness the last centimetres which separates it from the top of the cross. During a short moment, time seemed to stop.

We get closer to the entrance of the cave. The ceiling is situated at approximately four metres height. Inside, we can see the bottom which goes up until almost touching the ceiling. A dune of sand seems to block the entry. Indeed, all the bottom of the cave consists of sand. It is thus necessary to pay great attention on the kicking not to lift it up and to lose the poor remaining visibility that stays for us, after all these continual comings and goings of divers' groups. Our guide switches on his torchlight and shows us a magnificent and huge sea anemone escorted by its two cleaning shrimps. It is enormous and is located at the junction of the sand and the wall, on the left hand side when we face the cave. Too many particles in suspension for this time, there will be no photo …

The cave of El Palm-Mar is also called “Cueva de la Morena” (the cave of the morey eels). They are everywhere. They are nested in arc of circle on the outside face of the vault. We can find on this site multitude of black morays, brown morays, and even some tiger morays. Their attitude is typical. When we approach, they do not hesitate to come to us, keeping sometimes nearly half of their body out of their hole. Hold on! Feeding is in the air… We go along the falling on the left hand side. Wide cracks are the refuge of the biggest brown moray eels that I had the luck to observe on the Tenerife dive sites. Some share their hole with other congeners, a delight for underwater photographers.

Some quick shots and we leave the underwater cliff to swim back to the plateau at shallower depth. The eradication campaigns of the lime sea urchin allowed a full growth of a huge seabed carpet made of algae Cotoniella filamentosa. It covers the rock as far away as the eye can see. Its filamentous aspect does not make it very attractive. It is while going up slowly to the safety stop my thoughts lead me to this question: Is there any relationship between the contamination of the fish farms and the massive growth of these algae? To be continued…

Montaña Amarilla 26 july 2009

2009-07-28T19:15:00.002+01:00

Great success in the campaign to control the Lime sea urchin at the Yellow Mountain (Montaña Amarilla).

To read (in Spanish) and to see.

The participants carried out a great work but a lot of sea urchins remain. Each dive should be the opportunity for divers to kill some. The collaboration from every divers is very important to eradicate the Lime sea urchin from such a pretty underwater landscape…

If you know about other articles or pictures, does not hesitate to send me the link so I can add it.

Control campaign of the lime sea urchin

2009-07-18T19:09:00.009+01:00

In collaboration with the Town Hall of Arona and Ben Magec "Ecologistas en Acción", the dive centres from las Galletas organize a control campaign of the sea urchin Diadema Antilarum.

This eradication campaign in the Yellow Mountain area is a part of the “Micro Marine Reserve” project implemented by “Ecologistas in Acción”. You can download the document here. (in Spanish).

The divers who wish to take part to the project can get in touch with the dive centres who are collaborating:

Saturday 25th of July at 1pm:
- Atlantic Divers
- Buceo Tenerife
- DiveTenerife
- OceanDivingTenerife
- TenerifeDive

Sunday 26th of July at 10am:
- Coral Sub

CABOcanarias will also take part into the event on Sunday.

If your dive center or company wants to collaborate or takes part and does not appear on the list, inform me please and I will add your link..

Plan Renove Suunto Summer 2009

2009-07-14T16:27:00.003+01:00

After the successful PLAN RENOVE Suunto D4 from the previous year, Aqualung Spain repeats the promotion, and includes this year the Vyper Air to the offer.

The dive store Tiburón libre in Santa Cruz of Tenerife offers this Plan Renove at canarian prices…

Telephone: 922274461 / 615217306 / jmp@tiburonlibre.com / Contact: Jose Martinez-Piñeiro Muñoz

Jellyfish Campaign 2009

2009-07-05T16:26:00.001+01:00

The Jellyfish Campaign 2009 will not only this year include all the Spanish coast but as well the Canary Islands.

It is asked to whom finds jellyfish, during scuba diving, sailing or even on a beach, to transmit the information and details about the sighting to planmedusas@mma.es

You can download the Notebook and the Identification Cards if you want to collaborate with the campaign.

The Web of the Spanish Government of Ministry of Environment contains a lot of information about jellyfish and I invite you to visit it.

More questions about jellyfish (in Spanish)?

Aqualung in the Canaries

2009-07-02T18:29:00.007+01:00

The Aqualung branch increases its representation in the Canary Islands with the installation of an authorized technical service including the managements of the last novelties of the brand.

On site, it is their local partner CABOcanarias who will offer this complete technical and After-sales services, including the battery changes from the last generation of the Suunto diving computers like the Suunto D9, D6 or D4.

The goal is not only to decrease the transport costs and to ease the customs procedures but also to reduce the management delay. Good news then for the divers which are using or want to acquire some Aqualung equipment.

Comments from Philippe Guillaume, in charge of CABOcanarias: “The prices and the accessibility to an authorized technical service are important components to be taken into account at the time of purchasing a dive computer or a regulator. As we are present on site, it reinforces the confidence of the diver at the time of its choice. Another reason not to hesitate any longer, look at me, I’m diving Suunto for years!”

CABOcanarias is not only the Aqualung specialist, it is also the means to discover Tenerife underwater world, to learn scuba diving, or even organize a stay with your diver groups. A team of passionate divers at the service of passionate people. More information on their Web site: CABOcanarias.com

El Carbonero - Westburn

2009-07-01T11:03:00.012+01:00

Dive from boat - intermediate level.
The wreck El Carbonero is at few some minutes away by boat from the commercial port of Santa Cruz of Tenerife. The landscape is great with at the back ground the famous and paradisiacal beach of Las Teresitas and an extraordinary sight on the impressive massif of the Anaga Rural Park

Little is known about this dive from resident divers, it is said that the conditions can be very difficult (current, reduced visibility) and that we especially can meet huge pelagic fishes, there are sharks there … Our local dive centre is the SeaDive from Radazul.

Today, luck is with us: the sea is beautiful and there is no wind at all. The boat takes off at top speed in the direction of the North and within half an hour we are on-site. A quick glance at the fisherman boat also anchored on the wreck: the current is null as well, what a chance!
The group gets ready with excitement, the conditions are optimal, sun in shining, what are we going to discover?…

The descent is fast, the chain of the anchor is as straight as one I. The wreck is at 32 metres depth, lying horizontal on the sandy bottom. The visibility decreases as we are going deeper. The water is loaded with sediments filtering the sunlight but the temperature remains constant at 21°c for this month of June.

The anchor drives us down to the holds level. The Carbonero wreck would be the Westburn, a British steam ship builds in 1893. It was a bit more than 100 metres long and was captured by the German Navy during the First World War. It had been sabotaged in 1917 in order not to be from any use for the Allies.

The central part(party) was literally disembowelled by the explosive load used to sink the boat. There is nearly nothing left from the starboard side of the ship. We swim slowly in the direction of the stern, the best preserved part of the wreck.

The density of fish is greater than the usual. Big benches of Bogues and Marbled Sea breams take advantage of the weak current to swim away from the wreck as we explore it.

The rudder and the propeller are not at their place, certainly recovered before the sinking, but this 5 metres high steel wall lets us imagine the gigantic size which they had to have. Already fifteen minutes diving, time takes is flying at top speed. A sign exchange about our air supply and we turn back following slowly the port side of the wreck.

The prow of the boat is very damaged, a school of Bastard grunts slaloms in unison in what remains of the structure.

The wreck is crawling with holes and shelters but there is no time. I linger my ascent to make a quick picture of a Fangtooth moray and the round Stingray which finds protection underneath some steel sheets but my curiosity is not satisfied, it is time already to go up. What a pity that our host does not offer Nitrox… A decompression bar is placed under the boat, the safety air cylinder is submerged and availiable if necessary.

Back on the boat, the diving buddies can appreciate the chance to dive El Carbonero with such exceptional forecast conditions… Sights are shining, each diver tells its meetings which become then unforgettable. Once at the surface, we only wish to go back down there!

Los champiñones

2009-06-11T08:37:00.013+01:00

Diving from boat – easy level.
Two rocks in mushroom (champiñones in Spanish) shape gave the name to this dive site, which is in located in the bay of Las Galletas.

The captain of the boat warns us: this morning, a slight current is notable. The water entry is thus fast, and without waiting we go down along the anchor line and we find the rock plateau at 14m depth. Many Seabream are present on the site, in particular school of Zebra Seabream.

We continue the descent along the drop off. It is a vertical wall from about 10 meters height, the starting point of another dive site: the canyons. But we do not follow this wall, not today, we swim over a twenty meter width’s sandy area in the direction of the south, at greater depth. A rocky bar whose end curiously looks like a mushroom, offers us protection against the current. This bar will guide us until the sandy bottom which lays at 30 metres depth. On the way we will cross 3 perpendiculars rock bars, paradise of moray eels and arrow crabs.

Indeed, it is almost impossible not to cross some moray eels in this squaring of rocks. The underwater life is rich in this underwater landscape, the site is composed of many overhangs, holes, recesses… An ideal place to find some anthozoas or other Cnidarias.

When we arrive on sand, we go along the rock formation on the left hand side. Garden eels are present in numbers and disappear in the horizon. The dive group gathers. In a hole, a beautiful anemone (Telmatactis cricoides) is deployed. Impressive by its size, it has a foot of at least 20cm length and 10 cm diameter. Faithful at its station, a couple of cleaning shrimp (Lysmata grabhami) seems to take great care of it.

Before starting our ascent along the second bar rock, also ending in the mushroom shape, our guide inspects a net cage, laying on the sand at about thirty meters depth. It seems abandoned and does not have any rope to be lifted up. I come closer to find out as well myself that it is empty. This discovery is hardly unusual in scuba diving, we can find in a permanent way one to two fisher man cage nets on each dive site in the south of Tenerife. The impact of traditional fishing is thus enormous on the dive sites. The inspections of the Canarian Government ministry of Fishing are as rare as the presence of identifying plate on the net cages, which, it should be highlighted, are however non-existent but obligatory as the law stipulates it in the Canary Islands.

It is while thinking about the video shot by a friend, that I’m joining the dive group which already started its ascent. It is really time that the lobby of “traditional” fishing agrees with the Canarian Government and the Tenerife Scuba diving lobby in order that actions on short, medium and long term actions are implemented in order to bring prosperity to each one and especially, especially a responsible management of the marine resources before it is too late.

We follow the rock bar up until the drop off and we find the anchor without difficulty. A life line was placed at the prow of the boat to help us during our safety stops because the current did not decrease during the dive. Patiently, each group of divers delays its water exit, by staring at the blue in search for marine turtle. In 2008, a green turtle was living in the surroundings, there are months now that we do not see it anymore on this dive site, but who knows? Nature holds many surprised...

Week of the Sea 25-29/05/2009

2009-05-26T13:20:00.009+01:00

Week of the Sea - Los Cristianos from 25th to 29th May 2009.

Different activities await this week the students of the IES (Institute of secondary study) from Los Cristianos about the sea and its resources conservation. Some workshops are planed, as for example:
- Projections of documentaries
- Workshops about recycling
- Studies with microscope of the sea living beings
- Conferences and round table with different protagonists of the sea environment
- Photographic Exhibitions
- Aquariums...

The institute will be opened exceptionally to the public Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 15:00 to 18:00. The entrance is free. Information: IES los Christianos: (0034) 922.797.857. Some pictures of the activities are available here.

Three sea water aquariums were organized and represent the most typical sea beds of the Canary Islands:
- A bottom of rock and alga
- A blanquizal (the sea urchins Diadema devastate +60 % of the sea beds of the Canary shore)
- A sandy bottom and Sebadal (the famous plant that stopped temporarily the works of the colossal Granadilla's harbour.

Qualified technical staff are in charged of the reconstitution of the aquariums. It is difficult to keep in captivity all kind of marine life, a selection of the species is done in order to guarantee their survival and their return to the sea at the end of the activities. Three days of installation, two days of scuba diving, and a daily attention are necessary in order to assemble and to keep alive this wide range of species, the thousand litres of sea water and the 50kg of rock and sand that give life to this submarine world in miniature.

Partners of the Week of the Sea:

- IES los Cristianos
- Concejalía de Medio Ambiente del Ayuntamiento de Arona
- Área de Agricultura y Pesca del Cabildo de Tenerife
- Association Aula del Mar “Maresía”
- Coral Sub
- Cabo canarias
- La Caixa

Los Arcos

2009-05-20T19:57:00.017+01:00

Diving from boat – intermediate level.
The dive site Los Arcos (the Arches) is at two minutes away by boat from Las Galletas harbour, just beside Punta Luna dive site. The anchor is dropped at 25m depth, a dive where the use of Nitrox is recommended to enjoy the maximum from it.

This time we do a drift dive. As soon as the last diver reaches the bottom, the anchor will be send back up, the boat will find us at the deco stop. The descent takes ages, 25,26,27m depth and we finally stabilized upon the sandy bottom. The landscape is spectacular. The rock formation is very marked, in the shape of an underwater labyrinth. A first commemorative plaque was placed here in homage to Jean Koller (Jean Koller the Moray eel), dive centre boss considered for his underwater rodeos where he played with moray eels with bare hands. Jean died in the ocean in 1999, and his dive centre is still active: La Morena.

Our dive guide inflates the lifting bag fixed to the anchor chain, which takes off and quickly disappear towards the surface. We swim through these walls of several metres height and a first arch takes shape on the right hand side. We cross only a few submarine life, essentially trumpets fishes entering and going out through this imaginary door. The sky is cloudy this morning, the shade weighs in this submarine landscape loaded with history…

Indeed, another plaque was laid here by British divers, after the disappearance of Philippe Kloos, boss of the dive centre Coral Sub, in 2008. It is Jean the Moray eel himself who had sold the centre to Philippe in 1996. Coral Sub, one of the first dive centres in Tenerife, is always active. Here are some underwater moments from “the old time”, where appears the famous yellow submarine of Tenerife. I mean the first one, the one who haunts Las Galletas bay since then.

The second arch is at few fins quick away from the first one. With a reduced size, it calls the diver to swim below the portico but we prefer no to do it. Some Seabreams go away when we approach. Not a lot of marine life is fixed to the rock, the site seems deserted. But we did not come for that, we knew it.

If we take time to come close to the rocks, it's all whole Macro universe which surrenders to our eyes. The use of a torch light is strongly advised to enjoy its beauty. The arches are covered with small organisms, as for example the coral Phyllangia mouchezii. It is important not to dive under the arches because our air bubbles are very corrosive for this underwater environment so fragile and can impose irreversible damages to the ecosystem. Underwater photographers will take care of not staying there too long …

We go southward, in the direction of the open. Some arrow crabs are guarding this landscape so full of emptiness. A white spot attracts my sight from more than 10 meters away. At the feet of the last arch, a cross was placed there in homage to Jacques Yves Cousteau. In 1997, after the Commander death, the dive centre Buceo Tenerife from Las Galletas organized a commemorative dive in his honour.

The last arch, the biggest of the three, is impressive by its size. It is the opening to the unlimitedness of the sandy bottom at 30 metres depth. We can see some marks clearly appearing on the bottom. We can imagine the sting ray which came here to hide or to hunt. We follow the dive along the drop off, on the left hand side.

At a hundred meters from there, pushed by a light current, we reach another dive site called Punta San Juan. This site also presents a spectacular rocky formation, cutting on the whiteness of the sand. A large school of bastard grunts moves slowly above the falling. A magnificent entertainment and the opportunity for us to swim at shallower depth in the direction of the shore, to do our deco stop in the blue.

The dive site Punta San Juan is not often visited by the dive centres of Tenerife. The environmental contamination is important there. We find garbage spread everywhere on the bottom. Their source is multiple: fishermen at the surface, current, marine outfall … The 600m one from Las Galletas is effectively nearby. Several times fixed, it does not stop contaminating the sea bed around. What goes through our toilet find its way to the sea, near our shore, near our beaches. A water-treatment plant as well as a new marine outfall of 1000m length is under construction. With the years, the garbage decomposes itself into fine particles and enters the food chain by ingestion.
What we through at sea will come back one day, somehow, in our plate. To know more about our food chain: Fast Food Nation.

Las Eras

2009-05-08T16:21:00.015+01:00

Dive from the shore – easy level (depending on weather forecast).

The village of las Eras is just after the one of Poris de Abona, in the direction of Santa Cruz, the capital. Once arrived in the village, it is necessary to go to the right in a labyrinth of small streets bordered by disproportionate buildings.

The entry point of this dive is made from the recently fitted out sandy beach. Careful however, the East coast of Tenerife is famous for its Northeast prevailing wind, and can make the entry dangerous when it blows strongly. We enter the water; rocks of small sizes quickly replace the black sand of the beach. We swim at the surface for about ten metres or so, to find enough depth and we begin the dive at the end of the wave breaker dam in 3 metres of water.

We follow the rock on the left hand side (North direction), by keeping the sand area on the right hand side. A slight current in front of us is felt. Without loosing time, we move slowly by following the sloping bottom. Hardly two minutes of dive and we are already at 15m depth. A half-dozen of parrotfish escorts us for few metres. Today the visibility is great, 20 metres at least: a true delight. Garden eels are present in large number. Scattered on the sandy bottom, they always keep their face in front of the current in search for nutriments. A very good help to find out about the direction and the strength of the current, what can be useful for underwater natural navigation.

The drop off is not very rich with fixed marine life, but as we look carefully, we manage to find some anemones and a tiger moray eel. A very curious octopus draws our attention. The animal without fear throws itself on my camera, its tentacles stuck to the objective. Certainly intrigued, he wanted to bring it back in its hole to study it quietly…

As we progress the blue replaces the green. At 30 meters depth, the drop off turns abruptly towards the West. It is already time to go back to shallower waters. Nearly 25min of diving time, and we are half way. It is necessary to fin for a distance of about thirty metres to get close to the shore. Two sea slug (Nudibranchia) seem literally stuck on the wall. I use some time to immortalize the scene, but my underwater photography techniques are still not ready: no pictures for this time. Slowly I leave the bottom and the tracks left by sting rays on the sandy bottom. The drop off wall is almost vertical in its last part: a vertiginous scenery.

We arrive on a plateau at about twenty metres depth. Some barracudas regroup together right above our heads. The Seabream fishes swim towards our direction. They will follow us during about ten minutes. Las Eras dive site is crowded with local divers, especially during the weekend. Fishes are thus used to feed on black sea urchin’s Diadems killed by the divers with the aim of controlling their population.

It is time to turn around and swim back to the beach (South direction). The major part of the plateau is between twelve to fifteen meters depth and is bordered by another small drop off, from 8 to 5 metres high. The overhangs are numerous here, and offer protection to shy fauna. Big eyes, arrows crabs are legion, but there is no black coral on this dive site.

By following the rock at 12 metres deep, we find on the right hand side the entry of a tunnel. It is approximately located at 150 m away from the first drop off (the one who goes from 30 to 20 metres depth). The « Swim trough » (tunnel), does not show visible danger: inside, it is possible to turn back or to assist a diver with air. Only the exit is a little narrower and imposes to go one by one for two, three metres or so.

The daylight is present all the way through a crack in the ceiling. We find there some shrimps everywhere and a beautiful pink anemone at the entrance on the left hand side. The tunnel is rather short, about twenty metres and uncork to a small, circular and open roof place. At the exit, there are many huge overhangs. Trumpet fishes teem in this place and the size of some exceeds the biggest specimen's one I ever had the chance to see in the Red Sea.

The current pushes us slowly towards the exit. Along the way, a couple of cuttlefish looks at us with an attentive eye, while we contemplate them, almost motionless. We thus follow the rock on the right hand side to get to the artificial rocks which compose the wave breaker dam. Here, we stop for some minutes to make our safety stop.
Suddenly, a threatening shadow put me into darkness: a skin diver with spear gun just swam above us, on the surface. He drags behind him a buoy where hang three parrotfish and an octopus. A regrettable vision which put me straight back into the reality of the world we had escaped during almost one hour …

Sea stars

2009-04-29T11:30:00.024+01:00

The starfishes belong to the echinoderms family (like sea urchins, sea cucumbers…), who unlike the rest of the animals, can change, voluntary the flexibility of their conjunctive tissue.

The change is as important as the one that exists between the ice and the water. The conjunctive tissue can be rigid or flexible, depending on the will of the animal and of the environment.

The most known characteristic about the echinoderms is their pentaradially symmetry. That means, in general, that the body is divided in five parts, around a backbone. Echinoderm means "animals with thorny skin".

Approximately 1500 species of starfishes are known. They are cosmopolitan animals that generally live in shallow waters, move upon the rocks of the sea bed, or live buried in the sandy bottom. Normally the starfishes are red, orange, blue or purple, or show combinations of these colours.

The mouth is in the centre of the ventral surface of the body, called disc. Each of the arms presents two to four rows of small tubular appendices, named tube feet. They are filled with a liquid based on sea water and works like an hydraulic system. Generally, the starfishes move slowly and are able to flip over if they accidentally fall upside down. At the end of each arm we can find a small tube foot, in the shape of tentacle, which have a sensory function.

The majority of the starfishes is carnivorous, and feeds on other echinoderms, all kinds of invertebrates especially snails, bivalve, crustacean, and even on small fish.
To feed, the star wraps her arms around the prey. Some of them can evert out their stomach and introduce it through small openings no bigger than 0,1mm. Others swallow entirely their prey.

The Asteroidea (starfishes) own a great power of regeneration. Any part of the arms can be regenerated, also if the body is partially damaged. The regeneration speed is slow and needs generally over one year to be completed.

In general, the sexes are separated, the fertilization is external and the first part of the life take place as plancton, floating in the water column.

The brittle stars are a special echinoderms class: the Ophiuroidea. They look likes sea stars since they present arms to, but in other aspects both classes are not similar. The Ophiuroidea (picture 9 and 10) represents the echinoderm group with the major evolutionary success. This success is probably in relation with their mobility, diversity of food habits and their small size, which allows them to explore inaccessible places for the majority of the echinoderms.

Names of several starfish species that I can see during my dives in Tenerife:

1: Coscinasterias tenuispina
2: Astropecten aranciacus
3: Ophidiaster ophidianus
4: Narcissia canariensis
5: Hacelia attenuata
6: Echinaster sepositus

7: Kind Luidia. This specie is currently on study. It is asked to report to the Museum of Natural Sciences of Tenerife any if you see one in the Canary Islands.
8: Marthasterias glacialis
9: Ophioderma longicaudum
10: Antedon bifida

The starfishes, among others, play an important role in the sea urchin diaderma antillarum population regulation and control because they are its predators. It is very important not to re-collect starfishes and not to buy any for ornamental purposes or acuariofilia.

Here is a short video where you can see a sea star hunting sea urchins:

Moray eels

2009-04-03T18:07:00.014+01:00

Moray eels (Muraenidae) are present in all the seas of the planet, with the exception of the Polar Regions. They find refuge in holes or cracks and rarely go out from it in the daytime. It is thus at night that the moray eel is active and goes hunting, in search for shellfishes, molluscs, small fishes or cephalopods.

They reproduce between June and September. Their eggs float on the surface of the sea until hatching. They have no pectoral fin but have very developed dorsal and caudal fins. Their style of swimming looks very much like the snake’s one. They can even swim backward to get back to its hole. I saw already some coming out till the end of the tail.
Without scale, the skin is covered with a protector mucus which makes their movements easier. It always swims on the bottom and according to my knowledge it does not try to swim in the blue. If a moray eel gets closer to you and that you found yourself in an "unpleasant" posture, you just need to ascent few centimetres away from the bottom, it will not follow you.

The moray eel has gills at the back of the head, what keeps it most of the time to open the mouth to get oxygen and so gives this kind of "do-not-come-closer" sight.
It is harmless for the diver, at least if we do not too close, because it tends "to taste" what passes within the reach of its mouth. Its teeth are very sharp and its bites painful (as razor blades).

IIt is very frequent to find cleaner shrimps together with moray eels. These will not eat them because they are useful. Indeed the Lady scarlet (Lysmata grabhami) plays an important role when it refers to get rid of parasites. They are real cleaning stations… Although if you have enough patience and leave your fingers near the antennas of a shrimp, it will get use to you and can even come on your hand, just to clean you a little …
Although Lady scarlet are hermaphrodite, it is not exceptional to find them in couple.

We find until 5 kinds of moray eels on the Tenerife dive sites. Here are 3 species which I met under the water so far:

The Brown Moray (Gymnothorax unicolor). Very common in the Canarian Islands, this moray eel is the biggest that we have the chance to see in diving. She can achieve 1m length. With curiosity, it allows you to approach without fear.
Great subject for the photographers, the brown moray likes to take the pause. It would even tend to stick to the lens. Under the water, the eyes seem of a piercing blue. As his congeners, it is possible to find several specimens of moray eels sharing the same hole.

The Fangtooth moray (Enchelycore anatina) is certainly the most impressive of the island’s moray eels. It has a science fiction set of teeth. Its mouth is disproportionate and filled with so sharp teeth that they seem transparent. It is possible to find it in dark environments, as caves or overhangs. She can reach a size of a metre but the biggest Fangtooth moray which I met in diving sized 60cm. It disappears between rocks if we insist too much.

The Black Moray (Muraena augusti) is the most encountered species in Tenerife waters. It sizes usually 40 to 60 cm, although it can reach the metre in length. Very curious, it does not hesitate to get closer to divers. Be careful with this species, it seems nervous and ready to protect wildly its territory. Besides being provided with a row of teeth on the jaws, the black moray has as well a row of teeth located on the palate. A frightening predator.

Outside the competition, the Leopard eel (Myrichthys pardalis) is often mistaken with a moray eel or a snake. It is indeed a fish. It breathes under water thanks to its gills and so do not need to join the surface to breathe, like sea snakes do. It does not belong to the moray family but the eel’s one (Ophichthidae). It is rare to meet them in diving, and even more in the daytime. But she likes going outside its hole late in the afternoon or at night, in search for food. Harmless for the divers, this eel of a maximal size of 70cm is the cherry on the cake during the dives in Tenerife.

The main threat for moray eels is fishing know as the "traditional" fishing. Indeed, the minimal size for the capture is not regulated, what leaves regrettably not enough chance to the juveniles. Although we can see moray eels nearly at every dive, it is rare to find specimens having reached their adult size in Tenerife. The accessory used for its fishing is called "the drum". The image shows a drum abandoned for a long time on the rocky bottom. When the drum is in working order, it lets the fish to get in and does not allow it to get out (as a bow net). Although this practice of fishing is forbidden near the shore, we find these barrels almost everywhere in very shallow waters... Poachers? You said poachers?

Roncadores del Faro

2009-03-30T14:08:00.012+01:00

Diving from boat – easy level.
Also called Atlantida for its rock formation made of basalt and for its tunnels, this dive site is a located just before getting to the light house of Punta Rasca, while sailing since from las Galletas.
The anchor is set at 6m depth.

The briefing was clear: first step at 7m max, then a second one around 20m and finally the last one is far away, at about 30 m depth, right before the drop off.
We begin our dive. Quickly arrived on the bottom, we notice that the eradication of the long-spine black sea urchins that divers are carrying out is useful. The rocky bottom is covered with green seaweeds which were able now to grow slowly.
Small school of goldstrieme seem to benefit from them, they go from rock to rock, grazing them literally. We get close to the first wall. The visibility is good today, more than 20 meters, we see very clearly the school of bastard grunts (Pomadasys incisus) which swims slowly below us.

The Bastard grunts (Roncadores in Spanish) gave their name to this site. They are resident here, and they almost always swim in the area. Although they move between 20 and 25 meters depth, it is almost certain to find them. Slowly, we approach them. Impossible to count them, they are so many…

A rocky overhang goes out of the falling. It is pierced by a tunnel from about fifteen metres long. Of a diameter which presents no danger for the diver, this tunnel is the opportunity to experiment “swim throughs” during a dive without big shiver. The bottom of the tunnel is strewed with rocks which offer refuge to some shrimps called Red Atlantic reef lobster. Few marine lives elected as a place of residence the walls and nor the ceiling.

Once past the swim through, we swim towards the ocean, at deeper depth. Two rock bars go towards the south. We follow one from them, using it to protect us from the current which gets slightly stronger as we go down.

Along the way, a small school of amberjack follows us during about twenty metres. After 3 minutes of contemplative swim, we are at the edge of the drop off, at 30m depth. There, we can see some branches of black coral. For a couple of minutes, we scrutinize the blue in search of pelagic. Nothing for this time.

We follow the second rocky bar to return to the boat. We have the surprise to meet a purgeon fish (Chilomycterus atringa), hidden in the shade, under a rocky overhang. It has a spine pinched in the mouth. The purgeon fish plays an important game in the regulation of long-spine black sea urchins. Now protected by law, it was fished for a long time for its decorative value. Nowadays, the specie is considered as vulnerable. A fish not to disturb.

Returning to the school of bastard grunts in the 20 metres depth area, we follow the wall on the right hand side and we find the entrance of another cave.
Much narrower than the previous one, we do not go inside but the bubbles which escape from the roof indicate that we can penetrate it. We return on the step, at safety stop depth, while we exchange some glances with trumpetfish, parrotfish or seabreams.

Arenita

2009-03-24T12:10:00.009+00:00

Diving from boat – intermediate level.

Arenita is without hesitation one of the best dive site in the South of Tenerife. It is located between Punta Rasca’s lighthouse and El Palm Mar.

The anchor is thrown at 25m of depth. This time, the descent is slow, the current is moderate. Once we get to the bottom, the anchor is sent back to the surface with a parachute filled with air. It is a drift dive, the boat will be looking for us at the safety stops. As this picture shows, we leave this rocky python on the left hand side and we find an abrupt cliff which falls down to 50 metres.
A small grouper quickly swims away below us, and a school of African striped grunts (Parapristipoma octolineatum) regroups. At first intrigued by our presence, they go away quietly towards the bottom after a quick check.

This time, we do not dive deeper than 30 metres because a particular fish draws our attention: a purgeon fish (Chilomycterus atringa) moves slowly along the drop off, and inspects us with its globulous eyes when we get closer. We follow it gently and it takes us straight towards a school of barracudas (Sphyraena viridensis) motionless and inquisitive.

The drop off is covered with black coral, a spectacular landscape, but it requires the use of a torchlight to fully enjoy it. A black moray eel moves from cracks to cracks, and swims right behind this arrow crab (Stenorhynchus lanceolatus). It aims at us one of its sharp legs in a warning way, when we get closer to it.

But it is time to start our ascent. We go back to the shore by following the bottom. Along the way, at about twenty metres deep, we find vast areas of Rodolith. They are conglomerates of various limestone seaweeds (as the Lithothamnion corallioides or the Phymatolithon calcareum). In the shape of "coral ball" they are spread by the water movements on sandy surfaces.

We follow a canyon welcoming branches of black coral and invaded by trumpet fish, until we arrive at the safety stops, in the shallows.

We will surface with a big smile on our lips, a bench of about fifty Amberjack just offers us an unexpected show while swimming between us. A beautiful dive.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle gps

2009-03-20T20:56:00.005+00:00

A 70kg Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) equipped with a radio transmitter GPS has been released in Fuerteventura.

It is the first time that is carried out an operation of this kind, which will allow in detail to know the movements the animal in the next months, in order to develop the Project of Reintroduction of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle in Fuerteventura.

The radio transmitter GPS (Global Position System) does not have more than a half year of autonomy, but it has the ability to send information through satellite every 11 days. The follow of the animal will be carried out from the Observatory of Granadilla, whose team will make a virtual map of all the turtle’s movements.

Want to know more: Observatory of Granadilla (in Spanish).

Ali Baba's cave.

2009-03-19T15:05:00.013+00:00

Diving from boat – experienced level.

The Ali Baba's cave is an alternative to the Condesito dive. This time, the adventure starts at 30m.

It is at that depth that the anchor is dropped. The descent is fast, down to the edge of the drop-offs. There, we find this rock with a particular shape. The cave is just below, straight down.

While crossing the edge, we had the visit of a small and intrigued grouper.

The cave’s entry is at 40 metres depth. The walls of the drop-offs are covered with black coral. It can happen to see pelagics, rays or angel sharks. Be careful with the current which can be strong after 30 metres.

Cave diving requires knowledge, techniques and specific accessories. Direct access towards the surface is impossible. You are warned…
The sandy bottom quickly goes down to 50 metres. Careful again with depth, we are quickly tempted to go a little further …

The cave has a U shape tube, and goes about twenty metres deep into the rock. A torchlight is necessary to enjoy the scenery. Daylight is always visible, we can not get lost. Inside, it is possible to assist with air another diver if necessary or to turn back.
I enter through the right side of the cave. A Spotted burrfish turns its back on me and disappears quickly in the shadow of the cave.

Christmas crib and other Christmas trees are left by divers at the bottom of the cave. It is a habit in the Canary Islands to organize a dive about this topic each end of year.
I do not know where the name of Alí Babá's cave comes from, some treasure urban legend may be…

The cave is filled with shrimps. I saw them sometimes walking all over the walls, everywhere. But most of the time, they remain shy at the back of their cracks.

Just at the cave’s exit, we can find a tiger moray eel which is resident here since several months. Perturbed by the light of my torch, it quickly goes away and hides itself in its hole.
A beautiful orange anemone will tempt the photographers, but it is already time to go back up, ours computers starts to show numbers.

A last image before we leave the bottom, a branch of black coral.
We ascent by following the bottom without waiting, East direction. On the way we swim across a big stingray and some black moray eels.

When we get to 20m depth, the stern of the Condesito welcomes us. The exploration of the wreck is possible while going up and we do our deco stops flying over it.

And to know eveything about Ali Baba: wikipedia.