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Martin Puchert, from the Underwater Research Group (URG), explains how “diving with a purpose” has opened his eyes to what is really happening underwater. Diving with a purpose is diving where there is a task, measurement or observation to be done for a research program. It adds a new dimension to diving. Martin started diving as a volunteer for citizen science programs in the last few years when he realised he could make observations that could be useful to somebody else.
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| He joined a program, Reef Life Survey, which surveys the marine life on coral and rocky reefs. It involves divers identifying all fish and invertebrate species at survey area, including sizes and estimates of quantities.
Martin finds it immensely rewarding. Aside from the satisfaction of collecting useful data, he found he notices a lot more about marine life while diving.
A diver recording biodiversity data (photo by John Turnbull)
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Now it’s rare to do a dive without noticing something he’s never seen before, such as an animal behaviour, an interrelationship between animals, or even different species. Being involved in citizen science programs has also allowed Martin to meet other divers and scientists who are willing to share their knowledge. This comes in handy when trying to identify a new species, such as a new tropical fish that’s turned up in Sydney. It can be daunting to look up a species from hundreds of other tropical species, so it’s really helpful to know some experts.
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| Sea slug, Ceratosoma brevicaudatum (photo by Martin Puchert)
Martin has been surprised that text books and online information about marine species mainly refer to anatomical descriptions. It’s hard to find information on things like life cycles and behaviours. That’s a shame because many marine creatures lead lives that seem bizarre to us. Blue gropers, for example, are all born female, and one or two males form a harem of females. If a male groper dies, then one of the females turns into a male to replace the dead male!
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Crimson banded wrasse, which are common around Sydney, are also born female, but all turn into males when roughly five years of age. The annual Sea Slug Census in Sydney is another citizen science diving program. Sea slugs, or nudibranchs, are small soft-bodied creatures and are often brightly coloured (red, pink, brown, orange, blue, purple). They have a range of habitat preferences, with some preferring to be under logs and rocks, and others living out in the open.
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| Sea slug, Ardeadoris rubroannulata (photo by Martin Puchert)
In the Sea Slug Census, divers photograph all the different species they can find around Sydney over one weekend, and send their photos to the organising scientists. It enables scientists to look at the numbers and varieties of species, and to possibly detect changes in the environment. In January this year Martin joined an exploration dive with the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) in Tasmania. They were looking in waters just east of Tasmania for the critically endangered red handfish, which only had an estimated 20 individuals left in the world. These little fish, 7-8 cm long, sit on the bottom under kelp.
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There has been no captive breeding program because it was too risky to take any of them out of the natural environment. They surveyed one area and found more individuals than expected, which pushed up the population estimate to around 30 or 40.
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| Redhand fish (Image by Martin Puchert)
They then followed up on a reported sighting somewhere else. Just when the team was on the point of giving up, one of them found a red handfish, which was super exciting. They then focussed all their attention on a small patch around that individual, and incredibly found another seven, which confirmed that there was a previously unknown population there. It is now thought that there may be around 60-80 red handfish in the world - a very positive news story. There are many pressures on marine life that we don’t think about. People with aquariums know how sensitive fish are to slight changes in pH, nitrogen or temperature, and many marine species lose habitat from changes in water temperature, pollution and fishing practices such as trawling. Diving with a purpose can reveal what is really happening in our waters, as Martin Puchert has discovered.
Diving with a purpose is a real water craft.
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Martin Puchert was interviewed for A Question of Balance by Ruby Vincent. Summary text by Victor Barry March 2018.
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