Spotting Lionfish

[1KWIK_69]

I was amazed at how easily Gabi Loco was able to spot lionfish on our dives. It took a whole lot of looking for me to spot them, and usually only when I got pretty close, and yet, Gabi seemed to be able to pick them out at will from a great distance. I noticed later that he has a mask with a gold tinted lense. I wonder if his mask with a built in light filter helps him spot the color variances better?

Who else has one of these masks that can give me a little info on how well they work?

 

[mstevens]

It's the diver, not the mask.

 

[mstevens]

To expand on my statement above a bit...

Each person in my family of 3 is particularly adept at spotting some things and particularly poor at others. I appear to have some sort of barracuda blindness, for example. We dive with a former classmate who finds the most minuscule things. She'll point to an anemone or sponge and we'll see... nothing. We'd joke about her hallucinating things. Then I started taking pictures of the "nothing" to prove there was nothing to see. Back on land, Tamara would say "See, there's that tiny shrimp" and I STILL wouldn't see anything, even with her pointing right at it. However, zoom in onscreen and I'll be damned; there's a little shrimp or whatever, just as she'd claimed.

Divemasters have a number of advantages. Not least is knowing where on a given site lionfish (or seahorses or whatever they're seeking) like to hang out and where they've been found before. They also are so much more familiar with each site than even frequent recreational divers, so are more equipped to notice anything that's different, including very subtle things such as shadows or movement. Finally, they're intimately familiar with what indirect signs to look for. For example, the angelfish that crowd around feeding sea turtles snatching up sponge fragments can be easier to spot from a distance than the turtles themselves.

When I was teaching medicine and asking students to observe patients, they'd start out the rotation convinced I was making stuff up or knew the answers beforehand. The tremor was too subtle, the rash too pale for anyone to notice without cheating. By the end of the rotation, they were much better at picking up those things themselves. No magic glasses required.

 

[Brules]

Its the diver not the mask. Mask can only enhance colors/take out the blue and enhance red.

Dive masters have the advantage of diving 2 times minimum every day.....when you see somethin every day, you get better at spotting it than someone who doesn't.

 

[1KWIK_69]

From the responses, maybe I should have worded my question better. Of course Gabi or most other seasoned dive pros are going to be better at spotting things on the reefs they dive every day than one of us tourists.

My question is how much do one of those masks help clean up the colors so you can see things even better?

Sea Vision 2100 Mask with Color Correcting Filter Lenses

 

[Brules]

About $100-$125. I use one, and it has a red coating on the outside, anti fog on the inside. Works fantastic for lessening the blue and restoring color to the reefs at depth. Mines 7 years old, so there are some even better ones out now a days.....but its the same principle as using a red filter on a camera/video camera.

 

[Mike]

I'm color blind and spot them better now then I did years ago, its just based on experience, knowing where they would be what habitat they prefer is part of it too.

 

[sharky60]

he dives the the reefs all the time and probably knows where they hang out, Lion fish are territorial and pretty much stay in one general area...well at least the Pacific lionfish do, who knows what habbits the "Caribbean" lionfish has developed:shocked2:...hoodlums

little lion fish seeking hint: look under overhangs and outcrops for adults, they seem to like the security of places like that. Look in small "cubbie hole" like places for juvies. I spot the juvies by looking for the not yet developed fins, they look like the antenea of coral banded shrimp, (which 9 times out 10 is what it usually ends up being for me ), sticking out from inside the little holes. These are similar type places that you find Bearded Splendid toadfish.

 

[1KWIK_69]

I've spotted them in holes like where you find toad fish, but I've found just as many out in the open, hanging out next to a large coral head half way up, and we even found a big one wedged in sideways next to a rock that was sticking up out of the bottom just outside a Columbia Deep swim through. You never know where you'll find one next. The reason I really started this thread is that I was thinking with their bright colors, Lionfish might stand out more against less colorfull backgrounds with a color correcting lens in your mask.

Just wanting some feedback from people that have such a mask to hear if they find it easier to spot the dreaded LF when using it.

 

[stcroix]

Kwik, you may have a point. I have a friend who dives with a tinted mask and he says it helps him pick out the small stuff much easier, which he likes to photograph.

Light conditions and the surrounding color and complexity of the reef (which varies) can affect how well they stand out. What I often see is the WHITE FLASHES of their "feather" fins, rather than their dark banded body. Their white banded feathers tend to create a halo of white spots which contrasts against the reef. I slip into that "hunting" mode where I'm only looking for that banded pattern while scanning in a search pattern. I actually don't like to slip into this mode on a normal dive because it changes the way you look at the reef, and how you dive it.

While it is certainly easier to spot them if you know where to look, some people do seem to be better at spotting them than others, and it's not always due to practice!