divEr 46
again. But worse was to come.
I hate even to think it possible but
before the competition a harlequin shrimp
on the house-reef had two front claws and
then suddenly it had only one.
It’s an old trick to prevent the next
person from getting a better shot.
Nowhere in the competition rules did it
say anything about good diving practice
and giving consideration for the
environment, and we were all angry at the
behaviour. We asked our own dive-guides
how it could be allowed to happen, but
they merely shrugged. It all comes down
to money in the end.
I wrote to the Dragon Cup Shootout
organisers for their comments, and also to
main sponsor Nauticam, which awarded a
camera housing to the winner, to make itaware of the competitors’ level of
behaviour and the damage they were
causing in the name of brand promotion.
With my complaint, I sent a link to the
code of conduct from the British Society
of Underwater Photographers’ website.
The response from Nauticam in Hong
Kong was refreshing and positive. It asked
the organisers to send it the winning
images so that it could satisfy itself that
the prizes went only to participants who
had not broken any “rules”, though that
would be difficult to tell after the event.
However, it also asked if it could
translate our code of conduct into Chinese
with a view to incorporating it into future
competitions with which it is associated,
and also for creating awareness at dive
shows. It’s a start.T
HE BEAUTY OF STAYINGin one
location and being able to dive the
same sites again and again is that you get
to know where your favourite subjects
hang out and the best time of day to
photograph them and observe their
natural behaviour.
A series of fabulous barrel sponges to
the right of the house reef serve as
cleaning stations for angelfish, bannerfish
and others. The fish become accustomed
to your presence and it's easy to
photograph their comings and goings,
constrained only by the limitations of
depth and air.
We observed newly laid clownfish eggs
next to an anemone and the protective
behaviour of the clownfish as well as the
change of colour over just a few days from
brilliant red to dull brown as the eggs
developed pairs of eyes.
We completed our last shore-dive from
Scuba Seraya. I thought I’d pay one last
visit to the barrel-sponge cleaning
stations, and while there we looked at
each other in disbelief as we felt the
Earth move. It was clearly Agung’s way
of saying goodbye to us.actions that I picked her up bodily (much
easier under water than on land) to try to
demonstrate to her that what she was
doing wrong. But she was oblivious.
It’s behaviour like theirs that sometimes
makes me ashamed to be an underwater
photographer. I’m proud of my buoyancy
skills and those of the rest of our well-
trained group. My philosophy is that if
a photograph cannot be achieved without
holding on to something or causing
damage, it shouldn’t be taken at all.L
ATER THAT DAY,one competitor was
seen on our house-reef photographing
a resident harlequin shrimp at just 4m.
Clearly this imbecile had removed it from
its home at 18m and placed it in a more
desirable spot. At least he put it backRight & below: Clownfish
with eggs.Right & below: Razorfish at
the Dome.divErNEt.comINDONESIA DIVER
FACTFILE
GETTING THERE 8 Fly to Ngurah Rai
near Denpasar and transfer by road to
the north-east of the island.
DIVING & ACCOMMODATION 8 Scuba
Seraya Resort has 12 bungalows and a
private beach, scubaseraya.com
WHEN TO GO 8 Year-round, water
temperatures are usually in the 27-
28°C range.
MONEY 8 Indonesian rupiah.
HEALTH 8 Hyperbaric chamber in
Denpasar.
PRICES 8 Bungalows from around £87
per night (two sharing), shore dives
£18, boat dives £27. Flights from £450.
VISITOR INFORMATION 8
indonesia.travel