The Magic of the Ocean at Night

"Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness stirs and wakes imagination." So begins my favorite song from the Phantom of the Opera, "Music of the Night."
The underwater world is always a wonder to me but never more so than under the canopy of darkness. Many delights are observable at no other time than nighttime so our midweek night dive is fast becoming my favorite.
Almost everyone has to face some fears when they begin snorkeling in the ocean. Many fear sharks, some fear drowning, some fear being bit or stung, some just sense having less control than when standing on dry ground. We always get in several long days of snorkeling before we attempt our night dive in the middle of the week because jumping into the ocean and only being able to see what your small, underwater flashlight illuminates adds a whole new twist to a diver's fear level but the rewards to those who conquer their fears are always well worth it.
"Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor" begins the second stanza of "Music of the Night" and marvelously describes what happens to ocean life as darkness falls. During the light of day, everything is a hiding place for the invertebrates wanting not to be eaten by fish and other creatures cruising around. Coral, sponges, rocks, holes in the sand, and even trash like bottles, discarded pipes, old lobster crates, cement blocks, and whatever else falls to the bottom of the sea all are put to use as hiding places during the day.
Ah, but at night most of the fish are sound asleep and the invertebrates come out to play and feed. Yes, I did say the fish are asleep and yes this is very cool to see. Depending on the species, the sleeping fish may be floating right near the surface, directly on the sandy bottom, or my favorite, sleeping suspended right in the middle of the water column. I have swam up to a 4 foot long sleeping barracuda and poked it in its ribs and watched it take off like it was shot out of a cannon. Not the most considerate thing to do to the fish but certainly an eye-opening once in a lifetime sight!

Decorator Crab

But as I said, while the fish are sleeping away, the invertebrates will play and this is quickly visible to the night diver. Caribbean Spiny Lobsters are out walking around everywhere. Crabs of all varieties are out of their holes and climbing over every sponge, coral, and clump of algae. Recently we have been seeing many decorator crabs on our night dives. Decorator crabs are a fascinating, poorly understood group of crabs that gather other living organisms (anemones, sponges, corals, hydroids, alga) and attach them to themselves to provide camouflage, defense, and even food when supplies become short. Coral polyps which are withdrawn during the day are fully exposed, giving the corals a much softer, more colorful appearance as they filter the passing water for morsels of food. The water column itself is often alive with tiny invertebrates. One night there may be tiny jellyfish everywhere, another night you may catch glimpses of the red eyes of tiny shrimp always in the peripheral vision of your light beam. Always there are many things active that are normally quiet and hidden in the glare of day.

Echinaster Sea Star

Gulf Toadfish

Harlequin Pipefish

Surprise and discovery are the rule of thumb on these dives as we are constantly finding new and unexpected things. Last year a sea star of the genus Echinaster was found out in the open. Also out in numbers were the strange looking and normally reclusive Toadfishes. An exquisite Harlequin Pipefish, closely related to the seahorses, was found wrapped around a soft coral. During Lake Center's first ever night dive, we found what appeared to be a Giant Tube-Dwelling Anemone. A species we have never seen before or since. In the last 2 years in the same area of coral stubble, we have found several sets of strange tentacles reaching up through the coral that seem to belong to a bizarre, rare, very large worm called the Long-Bristle Eunice which when seen in its entirety looks something akin to a sea monster. Clearly it's time to expect the unexpected at night.
Above all these wonderful finds we've had during our night dives for me stands one particular find. Many marine animals use amazing camouflage to stay alive underwater. Perhaps the ultimate masters are the frogfish. These masters of disguise sit motionless, blending into the coral, algae, or sand they are sitting on during the day and are so well hidden I assumed I would never lay eyes on one. Incredibly, a student found one suspended in mid-column right at eye level in 4 feet of water.

Striated Frogfish

This was the Striated Frogfish, complete with a strange front fin called an illicium which has a lure (called an esca) on the end just like the nasty fish in the deep in Finding Nemo.
Surely darkness does stir and wake imagination and in the sea at night, reality lives up to our dancing imaginations.