Under the Bridge

Diving in the fastest saltwater current in the World.

From the zodiac I look into the current and the whirls. I am ready to go into the water, but my brain is protesting. It tells me: No, you are not going to dive here, are you crazy? No, you are not going!

Within one minute I am already in the water. My mind is protesting, but at the same time, I do not want to miss anything. De zodiac had instructions to drop us close to the shore, just out of the main current. >We check our cameras and signal to go down. The current is going everywhere. It grabs me and within seconds I am away from my buddy, who is also my guide. I can just grab a big kelp with my free hand. The kelp is very strong, strong enough to hold me. After al lot of swimming and pulling at the kelp I am back where we started. My buddy is waiting for me. The current is still very strong and pulling at my fins, but we go deeper. I can rest behind a big boulder, while my buddy is swimming in the full current. His air bubbles are blowing away. I try to let go, no, no, I wait a while. Did we get the tides right? Are we too early or too late? No, my guide did it right: after a couple of minutes the current slows down and even I can swim against it. I already know the way, after a couple of days diving here. At first there is a steep wall at my left side, totally covered with anemones. Then we get to the narrow canyon with big boulders at the bottom. Between the rocks I find my favorite fish, the wolf eel. At a depth of 25 meters I see two at the same time; their blue color is not difficult to spot in the clear waters. Even from a distance I can see them, I have a good teacher! I signal to my buddy I see two and go down. I choose the biggest; its head fills the gap between the rocks. I take a couple of pictures. My host and buddy is Vebjorn Karlsen, he taught me to keep the camera and flashes ready, be prepared: he keeps telling me. The Stenbit gives me a couple of seconds and then it shies away. As big a fish as it is, it is scared of divers, only later in the season it gets more relaxed. I can take 5 pictures, before is has retreated behind the rocks. The other one has also disappeared. My buddy is waiting for me. The current has stopped, we swim on. The lack of current is only for a short while, then it turns and goes in our direction. Of course this is not a coincidence, it takes a lot of experience to figure this out, but I am diving with the best! It is only recently the dive school is diving here, before it was considered to be too dangerous, which, without good knowledge of the situation, it is! The current grabs us and faster and faster we go, it feels like flying! There is another Stenbit in my path; it is totally lying free, looking at me. I can try to stop for pictures, but then I would loose my buddy. Now I choose for safety, this situation is not to be taken lightly. Also I have already taken nice pictures, we see them every dive. There is always more wolf eel.

Saltstraumen

Norway is a country of legends mixed with old stories and history. They tell about ugly trolls, courageous Vikings and bloodthirsty kings. If one is to believe everything it is about cruel victories and faraway discoveries. Until finally, at the end of the Middle Ages the population was decimated by the plague. As the country is very big (2000 km long) and very low populated, it was an easy pray for the Danish invaders, who just took it and ruled for 600 years. Not until recently the Norwegians are an independent state. The discovery of the oil in the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean has saved the country from poverty. Now the tourist love to go there to enjoy the uncultivated countryside and the overwhelming beauty of the fjords, the mountains and the sea. The beautiful, ever changing country is never boring and the pearl at the Norwegian Coast is Saltstraumen, up north in the province Nordland, with as capital city Bodo. Saltstraumen is actually a narrow and shallow passage to a huge fjord, the Skjerstadfjord. The high and low tide pushes the water every 6 hours in and out of the narrow canyon. The cold water, coming up from the deep Ocean has a lot of nutrients and lures the fish. The currents bring oxygen into the water. It is imminent the divers have to dive at the change of tides, just like in the Oosterschelde. If calculated right, the current can take you away and bring you back. Or, you can dive like we do: enter the water just before the tidal change, wait till you can swim against the current and then just go with the flow. This method also has its hazards, because at the end of the Saltstraumen, at the side of the fjord, the bottom plunges straight down to 70 meters.
You do not want to get in there, the down current will take you to 70 meters and even if you have enough air and will not panic, it is still a life threatening situation. The diving school is well aware of this and they know exactly where you can dive safely with high and low tide. Just to be on the safe side, always stay close to the wall, the current is less strong there and there are always rocks and boulders to hide behind. Make sure you are not on the inside, the side of the fjord. The current there will take you down. On the other side, let’s call it the sea side, there the Saltstraumen gets wider and there are some islands where you find shelter. It’s a great place to do a Macro dive; there is lots of life between the kelp. We found so many nudibranchs; we stayed in one place for almost an hour. Sometimes there are big round holes in the walls, a residue from the ice age. They are the best places for the photographers. The divers prefer to play with the current; the photographers only want to make pictures. It is a fascinating underwater life, which never gets boring: the kelp, star fish, anemones, sponges, dahlias, deadmansfingers and not to forget the sea cucumbers with their beautiful feathery fingers!

Fish
Of course there is a lot of fishing going on in the Saltstraumen, especially flatfish and wolf eel. Uncontrolled fishing can upset the delicate balance in nature. Wolf eel eats sea urchins; sea urchins eat algae and small plant life from the rocks. Without the sea urchins the plants can grow up to huge plant, which is called kelp. In the kelp forest especially the young animals find food and shelter. No wolf eel means too many sea urchins, too many sea urchins means no kelp. No kelp means no young animals, they disappear; all that is left is a barren sea bottom without life. We were going to do a special dive for the halibut. I had never seen one! After taking a lot of pictures of all sorts of flatfish, I think this halibut cannot be a shy fish… Until my buddy informs me, all I had was normal flatfish, no halibut. It is already swimming away at the far distance, before we even get close.

Saltstraumen diving centre:
The diving school holds as a rule 45 minutes diving time. During the summer months the water is 9 or 10 degrees C. Even so far north there is still a big influence from the warm Gulf Stream. The diving school had dry suits for rent; they have 10 and 15 liter tanks. I tried the 15 liter, but I was almost falling out of the zodiac, could not control my balance. Until Tore told me to use the 10 liter, I answered him I was afraid to get without air, then he told me there is 300 bars in the small 10 liter tanks. I wish he had told me sooner, because only then my holiday started! The photographers are allowed to dive longer, 1 hour is the rule. We do not swim so fast and loose a lot of time taking pictures. It gives a lot of fun, not only the animal hunt, but also it is very nice to look at the results after the dive. So we don’t mind going slower, it is all for the good cause.
And diving in Saltstraumen is so highly special, it is a dream for every photographer to be floating around here: it is special, it is unique, it is a dream come true!