Photography and TX Fish

Texas lakes and rivers almost all have fish and aquatic life. The best way to remember the wildlife you encounter underwater is to take photos while you dive.

Underwater Photography
There are many cameras available for divers, from film to digital and D-SLRs (Digital Single Lens Reflex). The priority for your camera is for it to have a water-tight case accessory that is made for scuba diving. This case creates an air-tight seal so your camera stays dry as you dive, and it still allows you to use the camera.

Once you purchase a camera and case, be sure to keep the O-ring seal clean and in place. If the O-ring has just a single strand of hair on it, the seal could leak and your camera could get flooded. Below is a photo of this O-ring seal.

On left: Red O-ring providing water-tight seal on camera case. (Source: NNC¹)

For more information about photography, you may want to take a course about it through PADI. PADI has a Digital Underwater Photographer course to learn about choosing the right camera and refining your underwater photography skills.

Fish in Texas
There are many kinds of fish in Texas. Here are the fish and other aquatic life available at the dive sites I have already mentioned.

• Aquarena Springs (original post)
• fountain darter, San Marcos salamander, black bass, sunfish, perch, gar, crawfish, cichlid, turtles; Check out Scuba.Linda's Flickr stream of aquatic life at Aquarena.

Fish in Aquarena's Aquarium, representative of fish in the Springs (taken by me)

Cichlid in Aquarena's Aquarium (taken by me)

• Flower Garden Banks (original post)
• angelfish, goatfish, moray eel, wrasse, goby, damselfish, and so much more, since it is a coral reef. See the entire list at the FGB website.
• San Solomon Springs (original post)
• spiny softshell turtles, Mexican tetras, channel catfish, Comanche Springs Pupfish, Pecos Gambusia (mosquito fish), crayfish, Roundnose minnow, sunfish

Tetras in San Solomon Springs (Source: Flickr²)

• Athens Scuba Park (original post)
• There are very few fish here, if any, because the lake used to be a clay pit, and the pH of the water could be uninhabitable for many fish. The lake is best known for the sunken items that you can explore and photograph, because of the great visibility.
• Lake Travis (original post)
• catfish, bass, trout, crappie, sunfish, bluegill, carp, shiner, minnow, gar, freshwater eel, Texas cichlid; see a fish identification chart for variants of these fish.

Catfish in Lake Travis (Source: FM Dive News³)

And in all my future posts, I'll provide you with photos of fish you can see, and let you know what species to expect at the dive sites.


Footnotes

[1] Naked Nimamok’s Corner. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2011, from http://nimamok.wordpress.com/

[2] Rebecca dlghtflyswt. (n.d.). Flickr. Retrieved March 30, 2011, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlghtflyswt/63640348/in/photostream/

[3] Photo Archive. (2007). Fargo-Moorhead Dive News. Retrieved March 30, 2011, from http://home.earthlink.net/%7Efmdivenews/fmdn-photo-archive.html

Cloudy Lake? No Problem

Visibility at a Dive Site
Suppose you are expecting to have good visibility at a Texas lake, but when you arrive the visibility has decreased. Maybe it rained, or a lot of swimmers stirred up the lake's bottom. You still want to dive, so what do you do? 

I recommend that you practice your underwater navigation skills. A cloudy lake should not stop you from diving, as long as you still feel safe. Don't dive if there is no visibility or the water is very dark.

Lake Navigation with a Compass
To navigate underwater, you need to have a compass and a final destination. Here are the steps to take to reach your destination, even with low water visibility.

1. Before you descend, locate the direction of your final destination. Most man-made items put underwater as an attraction have a buoy to indicate their location, so you can use the buoy as your destination. Also note the distance to your destination.
    
   
2. Facing the final destination, align your compass to that direction. (See Figure 1 below.) Note and remember the degree that the compass needle points to. If your compass can rotate (called the Turntable Housing in Figure 2 below) then use the turntable to mark the degree of the needle.
    
   
3. Now descend using proper scuba rules. It is okay to rotate your body during descent.
    
   
4. Once at a comfortable depth, look at your compass while the compass is aligned with your body, the same way as in step #2.
    
   
5. Align the compass needle to the degree found in step #2, by rotating your body with your compass, not just by rotating your compass alone.
    
   
6. Swim in the direction that keeps the needle steady on the degrees needed. Swim in a straight line, and check that the compass is still on track every minute or so. If you see that you are no longer swimming in the correct direction, change your course.
    
   
7. Pay attention to the distance you have swam. If you had gotten off course at all in step #6, be careful to not swim too far and pass your target. If you think you've gone to far, return to the surface of the lake and make a new heading (start over at step #1).
    
   
8. You will eventually reach your destination, such as a sunken airplane or whatever you chose to dive to.

Figure 1: Align Compass with your Sight (Source: IDC¹)

Figure 2: Compass (Source: ABC of Hiking²)

Clear Lake for Practice
Remember too that navigating using a compass takes practice! Use the steps above to practice in a clear lake, so you can use your long-distance sight as a backup during your dive. A very clear lake to practice navigation in is at Athens Scuba Park, as shown below.

Source: Athens³

So remember, wherever you dive in Texas, don't get disappointed if low visibility sneaks up on you! Your dive will turn into a great opportunity to practice your navigation, and you can still make your dive fun once you reach your destination.

Footnotes

[1] PADI Specialties. (2010). IDC Thailand. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://www.idcthailand.net/nl/specialty-cursussen

[2] Compass Navigation & Using a Compass. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://www.abc-of-hiking.com/navigation-skills/compass-navigation.asp

[3] Athens Scuba Park. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://www.athensscubapark.com/default.asp