Crayfish-ing

A couple of weeks ago I got my first chance to dive since getting my certificate back in November. Compared to the experience of learning to dive in mirk that made for about 3 feet of visibility, this was heaven. I went with another of the docs in town. He was a marine biologist in a former life, but gave it up to go into medicine. So this is the guy to go diving with.

He's got a bach (bachelor pad, a NZ slang thing--most who have them aren't bachelors, just people who didn't know what else to do with their extra money) out in Mahia, the town up the road from us. It's a peninsula, and either one side or the other usually has decently calm water. You can see it on the map about 20 miles from us up the coast. Anyway, we went down the coast a mile or so from his place and did a shore dive. A shore dive is when one parks away from the water, puts on lots of equipment (at the car), then lugs himself down to the surf and (if he survives) gets in and has a nice dive. The best part is not having a boat payment.

So a crayfish is a Red Rock Lobster. Yeah, sounds much more appetizing that way, doesn't it? Anyway, it is legal to just go down to the bottom, poke your head into any deep, dark cave or under any giant rock on the seabed, and pull out a lobster if you can. It's the greatest. One benefit of putting your head into sea caves and rock crevices is that the wetsuit gets warm rather quickly. The traditional way to catch crayfish is with one's hand. I agree, it was bad enough with the crevices and stuff, but it's tradition. Well, you know what I always say--tradition, schmadition. Most people who care about their limbs use a tool. The guy I went with had a hollow metal rod with a steel cable running through it; stuck out the end was a loop of that cable. He pulls the near end, and the loop at the far end gets tighter. See how that works? It's not the cray we're defeating here, it's bad Mr Crevice. The doc I was diving with says crayfish have got something going for them, they've been around for millions more years than us. Well, I've got two things to say to the crayfish: cerebellum and opposable thumbs.

After the looping comes the fighting the lobster into a bag under water. Later after that comes the dipping the lobster into melted butter, which is what one must focus very intently on whilst dragging the many pounds of equipment (strapped tightly to the body) out onto the rocks and up the beach to the car.

Mainly, it's not terrifying at all and lobster tastes good, so I think I'll do it again. Lobster must be 54mm wide at the tail to keep, and the daily limit is 6 lobster per person. Life, as they say, is tough.

- Chad