I could not resist the invitation to dive on Blood Reef but I should have known better. Intrigued by the name I did some research and discovered that Blood Reef is situated a little over 500 metres behind the backline directly opposite the now-defunct whaling station on the Bluff in Durban. The reef got its name from the pools of whale blood that collected over the reef in the days when whales were processed at the whaling station. More about the whaling station will follow in a future blog.
If that was not enough, it turns out that in those days shark fishermen used to fish on the reef and in the area for shark. Big sharks, big great whites, tigers, Zambezi (Bull) and the like, attracted by the dead whales and whale blood. I discovered many stories of these shark-fishing escapades during my research and it left me with an uneasy feeling. Not least because a 2.5 metre great white had been spotted in the area the weekend before. But because the diving had been great the day before and visibility an encouraging 20 metres I was keen to dive.
Not only was I keen to dive but also my interest in Durban’s whaling history had been piqued. And I resolved to investigate further after the dive.
Getting back to the dive though, it was unnerving, exhilarating and intense. The visibility was a whopping 3 metres and the water an eerie green as you can see from this underwhelming photograph
Pea soup diving, underwater images, Cormac McCreesh
Blood Reef starts at a depth of around 14m and then steadily drops off to around 20m. We dropped on the 14m part and slowly explored the reef, peering through the eerie gloom. My mind filled with thoughts of sharks and whale blood I distracted myself by following a pair of razor fish for the better part of the dive.
The water was cold too and my wetsuit, which had torn that morning, was leaking cold water in abundance. Just before I began to shiver with cold, my fellow divers indicated that they had had enough too and we began our ascent.
As we started our ascent a large remora swam up from the reef and began to circle and swim between us. Now most times I do not worry about these nosy fish but today I found myself looking for the shark that was missing its remora. This annoying fish spooked all of us and we spent our 3-minute safety stop looking around for the shark that never came.
Nosy remora, underwater images, Cormac McCreesh
Reaching the surface, Stuart’s boat was a very welcome sight and we all sheepishly hauled ourselves out of the water. I am told Blood Reef is a spectacular dive on a good day…. well, one day I will return to find out.
