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Twitchy Fish & Underwater Volcanoes
February 2005

Whilst the severe storms, cyclones & tsunamis rage around us in much of the Pacific & the Indian Ocean creating havoc with saddening loss of life, the Marovo Lagoon remains a calm pool by comparison. It is hard to say exactly why, something to do with land mass distribution I guess, but even though the severe weather gives us a warning touch from time to time, the major systems divert around us. In talking with the old men in the Marovo they cannot recall villages getting flattened by strong winds, although occasionally some flimsy structures are blown away.

It's times like these that we really appreciate the uniquely protected location of Uepi. To the south the major volcanic islands of New Georgia & Vangunu shelter us in the central Marovo from the southerlies. Fifty kilometres to the north across 'The Slot", a very deep underwater ravine, protection from rough seas, is provided by the islands of Choisel & Isabel. East & west of us stretch the many barrier reef islands of the Marovo Lagoon. Protected dive sites are almost guaranteed, most of them in the immediate vicinity.

This is the time of year when the fish are twitchy. With the waning of the wet season, the water column is full of food for hungry fish. Many species are beginning to aggregate to spawn; the deadly hunters like the groupers, trevallies, dog-tooths and mackerel are attracted to the congested areas looking for a fish lunch. The moon phases are the key & as a full moon approaches it all intensifies. Every species gets more & more nervous, taking evasive action at the slightest provocation. The huge schools of trevally, plus the rainbow runner, jobfish & other species that often lazily lounge around on the channel bottom at about 50-80 meters now sit on top of Uepi Point. When a diver approaches they stream down the reef slope in a seemingly endless parade.

The best way to observe fish is to sit quietly in one spot. After five or so minutes the fish get comfortable with your presence & return to their former undisturbed positions & behaviour. Fish you can normally never get near, approach & nestle at your elbow. Then you can see the amazing amount of interaction between the reef inhabitants. It is a constantly changing repetition of behaviour, almost frantic, no one wanting to become the sandwich filling. As any photographer will lament, fish are very, very aware of your behaviour & attitude. "There was this beautiful rare Angel fish & it sat right in front of me perfectly framed by the biggest soft coral I had ever seen. And I had run out of film. It never happens when I am ready to take a picture". Strange that! Then again, if fish can feed on food scraps right in the open in front of the jaws of a bunch of feeding sharks then maybe they are a bit more tuned in than we credit them for. Some divers seem surprised to hear that if you directly eye-ball some reef sharks they tend to avoid you. Maybe that's why the fish are twitchy, just reading the signs.

So the fish will be very twitchy for the next couple of months. So even though the tides are not theoretically at their consistently best during the next couple of months, this time often provides some of the best diving for the year.

We have taken the opportunity in our slow season to dive some of the further away dives & explore virgin sites. A highlight was closely viewing the underwater volcano Kavachi which is about 15 miles out to sea on the southern side of Vangunu. Spectacular eruptions & we got some great video & stills.

We were not equipped to dive Kavachi but hope to do so some time. With Wesley & Jason heading back to Australia for studies we ventured further afield to 'wilderness', Tetepare, Munda, Lola & Gizo, enjoying the warm hospitality of the other dive operations in the Western Province. It was an impressive trip indeed with some never to be forgotten dives. We think that a lot of divers would love this adventurous type of trip, so let us know on info@uepi.com if it appeals to you.

Warm (28C water temp) regards from Grant at Uepi.

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We sincerely wish to thank the following people for use of their photographs in our website:

Peter Lange, Peter Pinnock, Oceania Films/Matt Guest, Eric Cheng, Fred Bavendam, Andy Belcher, Manuela Kirschner, Louise Murray, Roberto Rinaldi, Mark Strickland/Oceanic Impressions, Jill Kelly, Grant Kelly, Wes Kelly and Jason Kelly.