Sea world and south - A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer - page 73

The easy way to start a dive: Bob Kiwala, his collecting net and bag
in hand, just leans back and lets gravity do the rest. (Photo by
author)
A little competitiveness to see who came up with the most helped mo-
tivate us to roll over the side of the boat into the pitch-black water.
Hand-netting fish at night is an art that develops with practice, and
we each came up with our own techniques. If you shine the dive light
right into the eye of the chosen fish, it can usually be netted quickly with
a flip of the wrist. Then the job is to get it out of the net and into the
plastic bag tucked under your crotch strap. The dive light is usually held
between your legs while the bag is pulled out from your suit. Then, grasp-
ing the fish in the netting, you invert it into the bag and shake it loose,
without letting any already collected fish escape. This procedure is ac-
complished without being able to see much or even to swim because the
light between your knees keeps you from kicking. If your buoyancy is a
little negative, there's always the risk of sinking down on an unseen patch
of needle-sharp sea urchins. Certain fish, like the barberfish, would freeze
when hit with the light and on very dark nights could actually be pinned
against the front of the light with your hand, no net needed.