Night dives with the lights off?

[Mako Mark]

Jagfish posted this question in another thread and I thought it deserved its own thread rather than hijacking the one about masks

Question for you folks who dive at night with lights off...

I have done that on occasion for short periods when bioflorescence (sp?) is strong

When do you do this, for how long, and what do you see?


JAG

I will do a thirty to fourty minute drift dive with no light. It takes a minute or so for your eyes to get acustomed to the dark, but soon you get to see evreything in black and white. I find that if there are big fish hanging around, that they will come right up to you if your light is off.

I think the thing I like about it is that you can be in 60 ft of water on a moonless starless night, and there is enough light to see from general background bio luminescence.

It makes you realise that you are in a great soup of living ocean, that the living things are not just stuck to the bottom, that every single drop is just crammed with life.

Navigation is not a big deal, bouyancy is no biggie as you can see pretty well.

You dont see all the details and little things you do when you have the light on, but I think that is why it makes it more a listen and feel experience rather than a visual one.

It is very cool. When the bioluminescence is especially good, a diver looks like some kind of space ship re-entering the atmosphere.

 

[jagfish]

One time, my light flooded and I was nervous because it was a shore dive around lots of small rocky pinnacles. Within a few moments I was delighted to find that I could "see" the outcroppings in the water as the biolum was activating on the outcroppings.
Prelly cool...

I've heard that you can sometimes "see" the trails of large animals like sharks in the water this way...

JAG

 

[Allison Finch]

I always spend time with my lights off during night dives. I see well from reflection from other peoples lights. I can often see quite well.

A while ago I was diving in Cayman Brac on a night dive. There was a big storm on the horizon, but not close enough to abort the dive. While underwater, the constant lightning (it was still far away with no thunder) lit up the whole area. I turned my lights off for long periods. It was magical.
Two hours later, after the dive, tropical storm Bill went directly over the island. WOW!! What a show. I never saw so much lightning. The sky was almost day-like.
While the storm did a fair amount of damage to the island, it was an experience I'll never forget.

 

[dlwalke]

One time, my light flooded and I was nervous because it was a shore dive around lots of small rocky pinnacles. Within a few moments I was delighted to find that I could "see" the outcroppings in the water as the biolum was activating on the outcroppings.
Prelly cool...

I've heard that you can sometimes "see" the trails of large animals like sharks in the water this way...

JAG

I'm sure it's true. I used to kayak up in Long Island Sound (I've sinced moved). I'll never forget the first time I was out at night and saw what appeared to be luminescent torpedoes come at my kayak - dissappearing at the last moment. At first, I didn't really know what was going on...thought maybe I was hallucinating as I didn't really even know anything about bioluminescence at that point. But I soon realized that I was seeing the photo-activated wake of bluefish chasing baitfish and then, presumably, aborting as they got to within a couple of feet of my boat. It was almost TOO cool!!

Dave

 

[WaterDawg]

I think everyone should do this as training in case your light burns out, so you wont freak out, of course now I dive w/ 3 lights but still you should be comfy w/ and w/o gear.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

This time of year I like to spend time in the eel-grass at safety-stop depth without a light on. With all the bioluminescence, the dogfish put on quite a light show as they hunt ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[CBulla]

I've quite enjoyed my night dives. I use the light only for signaling. In fact my last night dive I had no light... my wife did.

 

[Damselfish]

Sometimes I turn the light off for awhile to see the bioluminesence or just for the heck of it. Recently I did most of a night dive by my buddy's light only, interesting but missed being able to see as much close or have control of where. Next time I think I'll try turning off my light and look more into the distance as some have mentioned.

 

[SueMermaid]

I'd MUCH rather dive at night, and always take the time to switch off my light and see what groovy psychedelic thing transpires. I am delightfully surprised, without fail.

 

[sea nmf]

Is it easy to keep close to your buddy when you both have your lights out? Or they to you when you have your light out?