Life on the beach

During our last dives all we saw was sand. Where have we ended up this time? No colorful reefs, no beautiful coral gardens, only dull looking sand. This is not what we expected for this trip. We heard many enthusiastic stories from other divers about these dive sites. Could it be that diving on a sandy bottom is really worthwhile? We decided to rely on our guide and continued diving. Fortunately for the next couple of weeks we realized that there really are a lot of different animals living on sandy bottoms. The only thing to do is watch out for them very carefully. Follow your guide and his experience to learn to appreciate the many animals that live on sand.

Life under water is about eating and being eaten. Finding a suitable place to hide will help animals to survive. Animals that live on sandy bottoms don’t have a lot of hiding places available. These animals will soon be prey if they don’t find some sort of protection. Each animal has developed its own strategy to solve this problem.

Some of the animals have made the sand itself to be their hiding place; some on permanent basis and others only use their hiding place in case of danger.

During one of our dives we encountered a little Razor fish. At first sight this fish looked more like a leaf under water. But there was something that caught our attention; it could not be a leaf? From close by it was clearly to see; we found us a little fish. But before we had the chance to take a good look it suddenly had disappeared. Where it went? We really had no idea. Later on during the dive we found more of these fishes. Their extraordinary behavior became clear to us. To protect itself from predators this fish first acts like it is a leaf. But in case of any danger it will enter the sand very rapidly.

Also snake eels seek protection in the sand. Various kinds of snake eels can be found a lot on sandy bottoms. Unfortunately you will not see a lot of the animal because they are always hiding in the sand. Mostly you only see the head. With a lot of luck you can find one swimming around. But you will see that as soon as it senses some danger it will rapidly put his tale in the sand. Special about this animal is its symbioses with little symbiotic shrimps. These shrimps function as house maids for the snake eel.

Perhaps crustaceans are the real specialists in hiding on sandy bottoms. Crabs, shrimps, prawns can be found on regularly basis in the sand. When diving in daytime the crabs or shrimps will be hiding in the sand. Afraid to be seen by their predators or just hiding to fool their own preys. At night most of the crustaceans gain some confidence to come out off their hiding places. Protected by the dark they walk around freely searching for food.

Whenever you encounter a crab or shrimp while diving in daytime you will notice the alertness off these animals. At the slightest disturbance, for example a diver, the crab or shrimp will hide itself in the sand. With only a few millimeters of its eyes above the sand it is not too difficult to swim by without ever seeing it.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful animals amongst the crustaceans is the Mantis-Shrimps. Also Mantis-shrimps have the same strategy; they use the sand for protection. When you are swimming over the bottom they will not easily attract your attention. While keeping its body safely only the beautiful eyes stick out off the sand. Because of its good hiding qualities you really need a guide to find this animal the first time. Gaining some experience in diving on sandy bottoms you might start finding these animals yourself.

The mantis-shrimp is not only hiding for its own predators. No, in its sandy house the mantis-shrimp waits for a prey to come by. And it will strike fast when that happens, firing its claws with a deadly speed to kill its prey. This small animal can be dangerous for photographers too! The power of its claws can be big enough to break the front class of the camera housing. So be warned! We were glad to encounter a mantis-shrimp during one of our dives walking freely around. Finally we could see more of the beauty of this animal.

There are also animals that use sandy bottoms differently to protect themselves. For example flatfishes and flounders; they have picked up a special strategy..In their evolution they have adapted their bodies with the meaning not to stick out when swimming along the sand. Their flat body is the first start to invisibility. Furthermore they have adapted the color of their body to their environment. As long as they lie still on the sand you will hardly notice them. Only when you swim over them they become clear. The flatfish will get of rapidly to escape from this strange diver. Especially the Angler flatfish and the sole are well known flatfishes in tropical water

Other fishes have mainly adapted the color of their skin to their sandy environment. For example the Lizardfish, blennies and gobies try to hide in the sand by adapting their skin.
But, if this is not enough they will try to imitate the technique of the crustaceans: hiding under the sand. In this case all you can see are their eyes.

So on sandy bottoms there are a lot off thing you can do to keep yourself unnoticed. You can make a hole to hide in or you can make sure your skin color resembles the color off the sand. During our dives we noticed that there are also animals with a different strategy. They try to look like different, like a leaf, or they try to look like something not-tasty to prevent predators to catch them.

Examples of these animals are the Ghost Pipe fishes and Frogfishes. A ghost pipefish has adapted their bodies to the environment surrounding them. When they live near a field of sea grass they will be green colored and in the same shape as the sea grass. When they are living near feather stars they will look almost exactly like them. In color and in shape. Near sandy area’s you mostly can find a piece with sea grass. Here you have to pay attention because the ghost pipefish really can fool you. You think there is a Ghost pipefish but after all it is just nothing more than a little piece of sea grass.

With frogfishes it’s a little different. Mostly it is hard to find out what it tries to resemble. But at first sight it is really clear they try to look as ugly and unattractive as possible. And they really succeed in this mission. They often have a colorful body; sometimes combined with a “hairy” corps. For us as divers it is easier to find these animals. But once in a while you will be fooled. Is it a fish or just a bunch of robe?

Living on sandy bottoms enhances great dangers for the animals. To increase their chances of survival all animals have developed different tactics. It all about hiding or misleading the enemies for them. A lot of animals only show their eyes under water. Use your own eyes to detect these amazing creatures.
Diving on sand might look like a dull experience at first. But by looking carefully you will notice loads of animals living on and in the sand. After all we really enjoyed diving these sandy dives.