(24-02-10) Despite the bad weather and low temperatures, our reporter continues his series of dives in the Galician Rías. Conditioned by sea conditions he dives in “heaven’s doors”, a dark rocky shoal full of life in the Ría de Arousa.

    Well. It seems that bad weather have decided to remain in Spain. It has passed a lot of time since we had a winter like this one… Not so much really, I am only 30, I am still the child at home.

    All this makes me think of global warming, in the environment and all those things that make our future worrying. Clime is…

    We had thought of diving in one of the areas we all who usually go to dive centre Hydronauta prefer: Corrubedo, in the open sea, which is one of the places with more life. There we can find a lot of nudibranches, or any kind of pelagic; and also, as it is open sea, water is much more clear than the ones in the Ría, and it is the reason we like it so much.

    To go to this sort of places (one and a half hours far from the port) we always bring the exit time one hour forward. We arranged to meet at 9aam. We had everything ready, Jose was in charge of paying the beers and Carlos of bringing the donoughts for breakfast. Félix had to bring the cups and my task was to bring the thermos with hot chocolate.

    There is place in the boat for other eight divers, but we don’t know who comes or if any one else comes. After having woken up so early and having everything organised… wind from NE blows so heavily that we couldn’t go to Corrubedo.

    We are in the port, with all the equipment in the car and the tanks loaded with EAN 32. Today, I even have the bibo 2x10 at 300. I like this equipment very much! It is shorter than the 12x300, weight less and with 4 kg of lead is enough, what else could I ask for?

    That the wind has ruined the dive in Corrubedo does not mean that the day is ruined too. We decide to change destination and, as we still don’t know where to go, we board the Hydronauta without a fixed destination. We will decide the course on the fly; we will search a safe place as we see the conditions of the sea.

TEMPERATURE: 10 ºC. WIND CHILL: 0 º C

    Knowing this… just four people boarded the slip, the others prefer the heat in the bar. Today, as it is windy, the sky has no clouds and temperature is 10ºC, but wind chill factor is 0ºC.

    A bit late than leaving the port Jacinto says that the safest area where we can dive is the shoal he has called “As Portas do Ceo” (Heaven’s doors). Let’s see if we are lucky and we see some Saint- Pierre fish.

    “As Portas”, located under the protection of a park of mussels and the Rua Island, is made of three big solid rocks of granite that rise from a bottom of 30m to 16m.

    In the bottom there are small caves formed by middle sized rocks. The seabed is completely covered by a thin layer of sediments, and as soon you come close to it or you make a sudden movement… you screwed up.

    To dive here we need to control perfectly well the buoyancy. This kind of places it is imperative to move this way: your knees slightly bent over your head, flapping with the ankles to the inwards and upwards, so that the water flow generated by our flippers goes up. Then, after having taken the picture, restart using the lungs, not the flippers. Do you know how I learnt this? Paying beers. Among friends, “who picks up sediments has to pay.”

WALLS OF ROCK COVERED WITH LIFE AND COLOUR

    Walls of the rocks are covered with small jewel anemones in the upper area, mixed in the lower area with their cousins, sea daisies and sea anemones that warn us that we are in an area with currents.

    Deeper, everything. Gorgonians of all colours, large and small fish, large urchins...

    It was very easy to organise the groups. We were only four: Carlos, Jose, Jacinto and me. We decided to dive three together and Jacinto was going to be in charge of the rope. It seems today we are going to have a good dive, although the sea is a bit rough because of the wind, there is no current and the sky is clear for the moment, but we can see some black clouds approaching in the horizon.

    The anchoring is perfectly well seen up to 6m, which means that the water is clear. Although we have been here some times, we listen to the briefing before going down.

    When we go into the water the surface changes its tone as we go deeper, and there is no light in the deepest area, 30m deep. Here visibility is horrible. At 2 or 3m deep it seems, because of the amount of light, that we are in a night dive, but at 10 in the morning.

    As soon as we get the bottom we see a beautiful Acyclonium palmatum, and you can see in the picture what I was saying about the visibility: look at the flippers, there is no way to see where they finish.

    Carlos and I use to dive together and go the first, and Jose, who likes the macro very much, goes after us keeping visual contact… when he remembers. Other times we have to go to look for him. But if you have dived with a photo diver you will understand, and if not, I advance you.

    Bit by bit we move into the area of small caves and gorgonians that I have mentioned above and where Carlos enjoys like a child.

WATER CONDITIONS REQUIRE PHOTOS WITH MACRO

    Today it is quite difficult to take general photographs, but how could I show you the caves of this dive in pictures with macro? Well, maybe a puzzle had been original. Today water conditions ask for pictures with macro. I can’t without the lantern, and when I light up fishes they run away… so… macro.

    Down here water is frozen, 11ºC, but fortunately, as it is a medium-depth dive time in the bottom is shorter. Soon we start to go up to stay for some time in the least deep area. Bu before we have to go for a walk and see if we find one of the conger eels of the place. There is one that… it is incredible! Its head is bigger than mine, which is quite.

    Y try not to lose the time left before going up and when we meet a yellow gorgonian I can’t resist.

    Right alter this Picture Carlos makes the sign that there are two minutes left to enter in DECO, so we begin the ascent to the low deep area, where we hope to be the last minutes of the dive, and I hope to find small fishes with which practise the lighting tips of three great friends and teachers photo divers: Vicente Badía, Víctor Tabernero and Fernando Ros. If you are interested in, Víctor teaches this modality in one of the sponsor of “Medio Marino”.

    Following the rise, and in minute 35 of the dive, I make my good action of the day. I save a spider-crab trapped in al old abandoned gear.

    Sailors! If they knew the amount of animals they kill with their lost gears… Them they say that there is no fish and ask for grants. However, when you go to the market and they know you, they take out of their hiding fishes and seafood that are too small, have spawns, off season… It is a shame!

CRIATURES THAT COVER THE ROCK LIKE A CARPET

    Once in the upper area, between the 18 and the 16 m, where there is more Light and water is clearer, we meet all this small creatures that cover the rocks as if they were a Harper: the jewel anemone together with other sea anemone, give the rock wall a special colour, especially when they are open.

    Over these rocks I am talking about they live many small fishes with which I practise the orientation of the flashes for close-up pictures and photography the whole fish.

    And, of course, blenids, in this case Parablenius gattorugine and Centolabrus rupestre, which let as go as close that I can play with both of them during the last minutes of the dive.

    I had always have the same configuration of flashes, and today, that I change them, enjoy a lot and learn new things and the differences between them. I am enjoying so much that when Carlos say that time has finishes I make the sign for one more picture and go up, but you know, this single picture becomes two or three… and I am in DECO four minutes without realizing.

    Fortunately, when I get the stop at 5 m I meet Jose, who is in the same situation as me.

    As always, I hope you have enjoyed reading my articles as much as I like doing them. And you know you can contact the magazine or me if you are interested in any particular dive. jacoboalonso@horminor.com. Also, I would like to know your opinion about these articles, what to add or correct… so getting your 10 mark is my aim. Thanks.

Text and pictures: Jacobo Alonso
http://fotosub-jacoboalonso.blogspot.com
We have dived with: www.hydronauta.com