Green Turtle

By djl_team, 23 January, 2015, No Comment

Koh Tao means Turtle Island, named because the shape of the island looks like a turtle although coincidently in the past it has also been an important breeding ground for both Hawksbill and Green Turtles. On my last dive on Sairee beach I was lucky enough to come across one of these beautiful historic creatures.

Green Turtles are named because of a layer of green fat underneath their carapace. Starting off as hatchlings nesting on beaches they then make their way into the big blue and during the first 5 years they spend their time in convergence zones within the open ocean rarely seen. As they reach maturity they move into shallow lagoons feeding on a more herbivorous diet of various seagrasses.

These animals have survived for thousands of years yet today face serious threats, and mostly from human impact. To help reduce any negative impact we may have, at DJL we have beach clean ups so hopefully less turtles will be trapped or consume material they shouldn’t. Get involved and next time you see rubbish on the beach just take that little extra time to keep our ocean clean.

by Louisa

Trigger Fish

By djl_team, 22 January, 2015, No Comment

The waters surrounding Koh Tao are home to countless species of fish, one of which is the Trigger Fish. Out of the 40+ species of Trigger Fish, the Titan Trigger Fish, the Yellow Margin Trigger Fish and the Pink Tailed Trigger Fish all claim these waters as home. During my Advanced Open Water Course, all the way through my DMT I was lucky enough to observe this fish through mating season when they live up to their infamous reputation of aggressively guarding their territory, through to their usual nonchalant chilled out selves.
During the last OW course I taught we observed a Titan Trigger fish feeding at one of our favorite dive sites, Twins. These fish use their fins to push sand away to get to worms and other prey. They also use their powerful teeth and jaws to eat the underside of a sea urchin that is softer and has no spines. These fish are infamous for their negative behavior yet show a higher intelligence than most other fish species as they have shown the ability to learn from previous mistakes.
by Fiona

Taking the next step

By djl_team, 19 January, 2015, No Comment

Congratulations, you have just completed your PADI Open Waster Diver qualification with Davy Jones Locker on Koh Tao. So what next? Well you could just get straight in and go diving to 18m, but why limit yourself there. The next logical step would be to go straight into the PADI Advanced Open Water course. This fantastic course is all about expanding your experience as a diver under the watchful eye of our experienced instructors. Most of the world’s most interesting dive sites lie in the 18 – 30 m range, completing your advanced course opens up these dive sites to you, allowing you to truly experience what scuba is all about.

The core dives of the Advanced course focus on navigation and depth progression. You then can choose from a number of great adventure dives to complete your course. The most popular are the peak performance buoyancy dive, regarded by most divers and instructors as the single most valuable training dive you will ever do. The importance of mastering buoyancy cannot be overstated and safety, comfort and enjoyment to your dives, plus the PPB dive is great fun, swing gracefully through hoops and obstacles. Another popular choice is the night adventure dive, exploring one of the islands beautiful dive sites by torchlight. Complete your advanced course with a visit to Koh Tao’s own shipwreck. Most people don’t feel like ‘real divers’ until they have experienced the eerie thrill of diving a wreck. A dive to the Sattakut, a 49m long warship is the perfect way complete your course.

On your advanced course you will meet likeminded divers, visit sites beyond the range of basic open water divers and experience new ways to enjoy yourself underwater. You might say it is a great way to meet people, go places and do things, underwater!

Butterfly Fish

By djl_team, 17 January, 2015, No Comment

One of the many fish that can be found on Koh Taos dive sites is the butterfly fish. Depending on the species, butterfly fish vary in size from 3 to 6 inches in length. Certain species may grow up to 8 inches.

Butterfly fish is named that way because of the attractive coloration of their body. They can be black, orange, yellow, red, silver and white in color, with different kind of spots and patterns on their body.

Many species of the butterfly fish have black stripes across their eyes and eye-like spots on the body. Both stripes and spots serve to confuse the predators and allow butterfly fish to escape on time.

Butterfly fish has flattened disk-shaped body. It has round tail and uninterrupted dorsal fin.

Another interesting feature on the body is elongated nose. It helps the fish to reach the food from the crevice of rocks.

Butterfly fish is an omnivore (eats both meat and plants). It eats different types of algae and seaweed, worms, small crustaceans and zooplankton.

Butterfly fish usually swims in the shallow water (up to 65 feet), because it eats animals and algae that can be found in this section of water.

Butterfly fish has a lot of predators. Large fish, sharks and eels often prey on butterfly fish.

Butterfly fish are diurnal animals (active during the day). They take a rest in the corals and rock crevices during the night.

Most butterfly fish live in larger groups called schools.

Certain butterfly fish are solitary until they find a mating partner. When they find a partner, they travel, hunt and mate together for the rest of their lives.

Butterfly fish spawns at the dusk (when the visibility is low) to increase the survival rate of her eggs.

Released eggs become part of the plankton. Most of them will be eaten by animals that feed on plankton. Baby of the butterfly fish is known as “fry”.

Since they are very tiny and vulnerable at birth, babies develop armor plates which protect their bodies until they grow and become stronger.

Average lifespan of the butterfly fish in the wild is 7 years. They live between 8 and 10 years in the captivity.

by Sophie

Wreck Specialty

By djl_team, 21 December, 2014, No Comment

As I’m sure everyone who has done a Wreck Adventure dive will know there is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you first see it emerge from the depths.There is a eeriness to exploring a wreck underwater that is completely unique, and as you float above it looking down there is a sense of grandeur and if I’m honest a slight feeling of insignificance. Saying all this however a wreck adventure dive pales in comparison to completely your wreck specialty. As soon as I was told that during the wreck adventure we could not go inside it all I wanted to do from that moment was go inside it. A feeling only increased when we got down onto the wreck and could glimpse inside the entrances and port holes. As soon as I hit land after the dive I signed up for my wreck specialty.

A few days later I was starting my wreck spec and it did not disappoint. Being inside a wreck gives a whole new range of aspects to diving that I had not yet encountered and as your level of skill needs to be that much higher for wreck penetration the skills you learn throughout the dive take you up that much higher in skill level. I don’t think my buoyancy control and trim in the water has ever improved so much in such a short period of time. Being enclosed in a corridor 30metres down in the bows of a WW2 wreck will do that to you.

The staff at Davy Jones Locker Diving are also very knowledgeable when it comes to the wrecks around Koh Tao, and knowing the history of a wreck gives a whole new level of interest to the dives. I cannot recommend a wreck specialty highly enough, if like me that first wreck dive just left you wanting more it’s just going to be an inevitable conclusion.

by Alex

DJL Diving Blog

Green Turtle

Trigger Fish

Taking the next step

Butterfly Fish

Wreck Specialty

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