Diving Ghavutu - Solomon Islands

Waterlogged Date: 1/14/98

have often dreamt about a long dive with an abundance of unusual animals to photograph in water warm enough to avoid getting cold. I was finally able to realize that dream on the Bilikiki at a site named Ghavutu. On the surface this site looked like an old abandoned concrete dock. It borders a lush green island stuck in the middle of a broad channel opening to form a lagoon. Over fifty years ago the Japanese built this jetty as part of a supply station for their ships based in Guadalcanal and when they were routed in the Solomon Islands by the Allied Forces, quickly abandoned it. Now, many years later, it stands in disrepair, a shadow of its former function. Above water, there remains little to see, but underneath the surface of the blue green water, there is magic. The dive site gradually slopes down from the dock, going from a depth of 18 feet to 200 feet or so; the sandy bottom is littered with minor wreckage and debris from the glory days of World War II. Unfortunately the sand is silty and easily stirred up to limit visibility and create backscatter if you are a photographer, so great care must be exercised especially when using your fins. When I dropped in the water off the back of the 121 foot Bilikiki, the water was shallow but lacked the 70 foot+ visibility I had grown accustomed to during the remainder of our trip in the Solomon Islands. I immediately swam towards the dock as the shelter provided by the jetty suggested that unusual animals and poor swimmers might be living there. Through the greenish water I could see large pillars rising from the bottom toward a surface darkened by the overhanging jetty; many had significant growths of colorful algae and other encrusting organisms. I carefully checked out these potential hiding places for animals seeking safety. Indeed, nestled in the algae were not one but THREE Harlequin Ghost Pipefish, a male and two females, one of which was clearly pregnant. When I saw this treasure, I remembered I was fortunate to be carrying two cameras freshly loaded with film. But this was not an easy photographic opportunity since the bottom was composed of a very fine silt and any disturbance created the Solomon Islands version of "Desert Storm" and Ghost Pipefish make a living by being difficult to see. Clearly they wanted to hide in the algae rather than get sunburned by my strobes. I fired off some careful shots and felt good about getting some pictures that would be acceptable despite the lack of a nice background for negative space. Energized by my first find, I continued to investigate underneath the dock and found some other unusual fish and invertebrates including Two Spot Gobies both singly and in pairs as well as three kinds of Watchman Goby and their partner blind shrimp. Both of these required great care when approaching them as they were skittish and I was only using a 100 mm lens. But by coming in low and slow, being careful not to stir up the bottom, I was able to get what I hoped would be reasonable pictures of each. This was getting to be fun but the clock was ticking so quickly, I checked my air. Plenty of air left despite being down for 50 minutes. How about film? No problem, still have not had to use the second camera yet! And the water was warm enough at 82 degrees that my polartec was still providing adequate thermal protection. Hey, let's see what else there is here! Finally, I ventured out of the gloom under the jetty and found bright sunlight. Despite being less protected, there were lots of interesting animals albeit different than those found in the more protected area. Right off the bat I found an anemone with a group of true Percula clown fish (Amphiprion percula not ocelleris). Within the group, protected by the host anemone, was a female guarding a patch of nearly hatched eggs. Looking closely I could see the eyes of the baby anemone fish in the eggs which had become distended with the growth of the babies. The prospective mother periodically blew water over the eggs to keep them from being attacked by bacteria. Moving on just a couple of yards away was another anemone with the false percula anemone fish (Amphiprion ocelleris) as well. I was able to get some pictures of each but anemone fish bounce around like crazy when they feel threatened so getting the framing I wanted was not easy. As I proceeded down the sloping bank I was able to find other wondrous creatures including Caledonian Stingers and various species of Mantis Shrimp. In the rubble near the jetty were Mandarin fish (Synchiropus splendidus). These Mandarin fish were difficult to approach in the daylight. I quickly checked my air and decompression time. Both were all right despite a dive time of 90 minutes so far. I had a little bit of film left and I wanted to run out of film before running out of air. As I looked around in the area around the boat, I was able to find one of my favorite marine animals, a Chromodoris nudibranch (Chromodoris coi). I finished up my film and finished up my dive at 1 hour and forty five minutes and still had 300 psi left in my tank. Oh, for a few more frames! Story by Steve Norvich. Visit Steve's web site.

Send us an email.