Where to see a Nautilus?

[TheSuppishDiver]

Alrighty then. I've searched the forums already and haven't seen anything about this so far, so I'm gonna take the opportunity to ask it!

I'm a newish diver (about 4 months now) with 16 dives under my AOWD belt, therefore the underwater world is right now as vast and lovely as my first girlfriend was.

Anyway, as such, my ambitions are quite high, and I'm already making lists of things I want to do and see, and places I want to go. Going to Oahu in March!

My question is: Where can I go to see Nautilus...es...Nautili...? Those things fascinate me and I want to see some up-close and personal!

Thanks!

Nick

 

[scwdive]

Copied from: Scuba Dive Great Barrier Reef Cairns Queensland Australia

PAPUA NEW GUINEA EXPEDITIONS

Milne Bay - 7 or 10 night
A typical expedition includes Nuakata Island, East Cape, the North coast and D'Entrecasteau Islands. Cruises may also include Basilaki Island to the southeast, Cape Vogel to the northwest. You will enjoy a superb mix of: wall dives; wrecks; nautilus dives; shark and exotic creature dives. Enriching the experience are cultural exchanges with isolated villages in tropical settings and calm night anchorages in picturesque bays.

Have a great trip!

 

[fisheater]

I doubt that your first girlfriend would want to be known as "vast."

According to Wikipedia, "Nautiluses are only found in the Indo-Pacific, from 30° N to 30° S latitude and 90° to 185° W longitude. They inhabit the deep slopes of coral reefs."

 

[vladimir]

My question is: Where can I go to see Nautilus...es...Nautili...? Those things fascinate me and I want to see some up-close and personal!

The way divers encounter nautiluses is by capturing them using baited traps, much like lobster traps, bringing them the 100 meters or more to the surface, and releasing them. In Palau the Aggressor gave each buddy team a nautilus to physically carry back into the water, release, and photograph. Somewhere I have a lovely photo of a Japanese B-actress in full make-up holding a nautilus in 10 meters of water--really natural looking .

It seems that the nautiluses survive the treatment unscathed--they have tagged some and recaptured them, I was told.

Nautiluses seems to be the preferred plural, though nautili is accepted.

 

[TheSuppishDiver]

I doubt that your first girlfriend would want to be known as "vast."

Haha, yeah, I thought about that after I posted it. Vast in personality, of course! And ego, unfortunately. :ermm:

 

[Diver0001]

I saw one free swimming (or whatever you call what a nautilus does) in about 10m of water off the southern tip of India. That's a little outside the range (and depth) that you would expect them but I'm 100% sure of what it was.

Having said that, don't pack your bags because the chances of sighting one aren't good. Here's a quote from another website with some information about habitat:

The chambered nautilus lives in tropical waters extending from the Andaman Sea east to Fiji and from southern Japan to the Great Barrier Reef. This animal usually lives where the slopes of coral reefs descend into deep waters. During the day, it resides in dark cool waters at depths from 900 to 2,000 feet and ascends to shallower waters (300 to 500 feet deep) at night to feed.

source: Chambered Nautilus Fact Sheet - National Zoo| FONZ

R..

 

[divad]

Try the Los Angeles aquarium. The NY aquarium has/had a couple. Great visibility, and yeah, they're neat.

 

[vladimir]

I saw one free swimming (or whatever you call what a nautilus does) in about 10m of water off the southern tip of India. That's a little outside the range (and depth) that you would expect them but I'm 100% sure of what it was.

Neville Coleman supports your shallow sighting:

Pearly Nautilus migrate up the reef faces at night into shallow water (20 metres) to feed on sleeping fish and hermit crabs. It is at this time (and early mornings) that divers get an opportunity to see them.

He also supports my earlier statement:

Some enterprising live-aboard operators in Papua New Guinea put traps down into deep water to catch them so guests can get photographs when the animals are released.

which didn't surprise me, since he and I were on one of those trips together, on the Telita.

 

[Insta-Gator]

Here's one.

 

[pdonelly]

I doubt that your first girlfriend would want to be known as "vast."

According to Wikipedia, "Nautiluses are only found in the Indo-Pacific, from 30° N to 30° S latitude and 90° to 185° W longitude. They inhabit the deep slopes of coral reefs."

umm, I am sure you would be able to find a Paper Nautilus at Wilson Prom in Victoria, Australia and that is >38 degrees south. They, I believe, can be found in Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne.