by Doug Pemberton

I have never had a bad dive.

Okay, maybe that's not completely true but, after 27 years of diving, I can count the number of bad dives I have had on one hand. And of course, some have been better than others.

Very early in my diving career I learned that the oceans are full of wonder, and I wanted to experience it all. Every dive has something that makes it worthwhile. It might be pushing myself to the limits of my training and experience on a wreck dive or deep dive. It might be catching a glimpse of a rarely sighted species or one that I have never seen before, or finding a familiar species either in their juvenile form. I take great pleasure in observing the life around me and often take the time to watch an animal as it goes about some small portion of it's daily life, thereby gaining some insight into how that animal lives. Then again, there is a lot to be said for just enjoying clear water on a sunny day.

So it really bothers me when I come up from a dive and overhear other divers complaining that it was a lousy dive because they didn't see anythinga common complaint, especially after a dive on a sandy bottom. But perhaps they weren't really looking, or didn't know what to look for.

Divers must be open to the unexpected. When we find ourselves in a situation or in an area that we had not anticipated we must make the best of it. A basic knowledge of the life that might be found in any given habitat, whether it be sand, wall, rocky reef or kelp forest, will open up a whole new perspective.

A sandy bottom may look like a lifeless desert but nothing could be further from the truth. There are treasures to be found, but like any worthwhile treasure, we need to search for them, and be able to recognize them.

Finding life on the sand is a matter of seeing the trees and ignoring the forest. Animals that live there are mainly solitary and have adapted to life in the open, or sometimes just beneath the sand. Several nudibranch species prowl the sandy bottom in search of food. The striped nudibranch, Armina californica can occasionally be found crawling across the sand but is usually more at home burrowing beneath it in search of worms, other nudibranchs and sea pens. The giant, swimming nudibranch prowls the sandy bottom after its main prey, the tube dwelling anemone, which is a common resident of the sand. Watching it slowly 'stalk' the sedentary anemone is an amazing and memorable sight. The golden dirona, one of the most beautiful of Pacific nudibranchs is usually found in the ugliest of neighbourhoods, on muddy bottoms and around old log booming grounds.

Many types of starfish including the giant sunflower star, pink star and fish-eating star, comb the sand flats for cockles, clams, snails, scallops or small fish.

Several species of fish can also inhabit sandy bottoms. The flatfish are the best known but certainly not the only ones. The armour-plated sturgeon poacher lays motionless when a diver approaches, even allowing itself to be picked up. The smaller, pygmy poacher or the alligatorfish, resembling a small stick lying on the bottom, will only be found by the most observant diver. Staghorn sculpins often bury themselves in shallow sandy areas, leaving only the tops of their heads exposed.

Also buried will be the dungeness and red rock crabs. Other commonly spotted crabs include the galatheid crab or squat lobster and several species of hermit crabs. Anemones and sponges can be found on sandy bottoms but they will often be attached to rocks beneath the surface. In some areas, sand dollars, a close relative of the sea urchin we are all familiar with, can also be found.

Night diving on the sand flats can be particularly rewarding. Prawns and several species of shrimp are often encountered. Giant scaleworms, up to a foot long will retreat quickly when illuminated by a dive light. Further out on the sand flats, the stubby squid prowls in search of prey. Shining a dive light across the sand will sometimes light up the reflective eyes of these elusive creatures.

The reef fringe where the reef meets the sand is one of my favourite places for macro photography. The broken shell, rubble is a favourite haunt of grunt sculpins, umbrella crabs and spearnose poachers. Baby octopus are also often found here in the late winter and early spring, shortly after they hatch.

Knowing the seasonal comings and goings of various species will also help greatly in knowing what might be found in a given area. There are many guide books available on the marine life of a given area but there is no substitute for personal observations, as so much is yet to be discovered. Diving an area several times over the course of the year, making careful observations and recording this information is invaluable to both the recreational diver and the overall expanding pool of knowledge about the oceans.