What is the definition of “Muck Diving”?

[happy-diver]

An appropriated term liberated by those that got loose with literacy in the pronunciation of macro

 

[ofg-1]

I always though muck diving was having to repair the rotation gears in a rake in the settling pond at the sewage treatment plant.

 

[ReverendAnthony]

Thanks.
When I heard the term I assumed poor vis like in the "mucky" lake in my backyard with the mud bottom, dark water, and 6-inch vis. "Muck" just doesn't seem to fit a dive in clear water regardless of the bottom type.

Learn something new everyday.



muck: noun

1. A moist sticky mixture, especially of mud and filth.
2. Moist farmyard dung; manure.
3. Dark fertile soil containing decaying vegetable matter.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Thanks.
When I heard the term I assumed poor vis like in the "mucky" lake in my backyard with the mud bottom, dark water, and 6-inch vis. "Muck" just doesn't seem to fit a dive in clear water regardless of the bottom type.

Learn something new everyday.


muck: noun

1. A moist sticky mixture, especially of mud and filth.
2. Moist farmyard dung; manure.
3. Dark fertile soil containing decaying vegetable matter.

On the other hand, a disgusting name may keep some amazing dive sites from becoming overcrowded.

Anyone have a catchy, inviting, bottom composition-agnostic name for this kind of diving?

 

[Doc Harry]

Muck diving sounds kind of gross.
The term “muck diving” gives me the impression that it’s diving down in low to zero vis dark mud bottom sludgy gross place full of muck, like a sewer pond.
What is muck diving???

Your imagination is 100% correct.
It means mucking around on the bottom for the micro critters, searching amongst the diapers, condoms, and huge amounts of other trash that is common on the ocean bottom in these areas.

The photos are great but it's so utterly disgusting to "muck" dive in places like Indonesia. I don't ever want to see a used diaper ever again.

 

[runsongas]

@boulderjohn doesn't have to be tropical. diving under the wharf in monterey is firmly muck diving too.

 

[stiebs]

Your imagination is 100% correct.
It means mucking around on the bottom for the micro critters, searching amongst the diapers, condoms, and huge amounts of other trash that is common on the ocean bottom in these areas.

The photos are great but it's so utterly disgusting to "muck" dive in places like Indonesia. I don't ever want to see a used diaper ever again.

You're obviously diving in the wrong places in Indonesia. I did a liveaboard in Komodo only a month ago and muck diving around Sanyeang volcano was some of the most enjoyable diving I've done. Even those without cameras raved about those dives - being able to just cruise around at a leisurely pace, looking at all the small stuff, realising just how much life there is when you take a moment to look.

[Edit: and not a piece of rubbish to be seen]

Sit yourself down (not literally!) somewhere where there's signs of little holes burrowed on the sea floor, and see what pokes its head out, and just observed.

I find it very relaxing and often mesmerising. It's also generally in the shallows, so longer dive dives. And if you start the dive just before dusk, there's a good chance to see totally different types of life through the transition from day to night.

 

[Dan]

Muck diving - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Dan]

You’d see some interesting creature behaviors during muck diving:

 

[Centrals]

And if you start the dive just before dusk, there's a good chance to see totally different types of life through the transition from day to night.

Mating Mandarin fish!