We started off today by going back to NELHA to tour a couple of aquacultures. First we went to a kampachi farm and then an abalone farm. After NELHA the black water divers went back to the Homes Over Kona to eat and rest until it was time for the dive. At nightfall we took a boat out to the dive site where we jumped into a dark abyss.
The kampachi farm’s main purpose is research. Their research focuses on two things: conservation and human impact. The kampachi farm is researching new forms of fish food to feed farm raised fish that doesn’t use wild caught fish to make it. By using plant based products to produce the fish food, fish farms could reduce human impact on local fishing stock. This in turn aids there conservation efforts. By reducing the amount of local fish caught, the local endangered and depleted species have a chance to regrow their numbers.
The abalone are a shelled fish closely related to the octopus. They are grown using cold deep sea water and are grown in tanks.
How the black water dive worked was that each person would be tethered to the boat via rope and we would stay in the black water with a flashlight for 20 minutes. During that time we could see the deep sea creatures that migrate up to shallower waters to feed during the night. I saw a lot of siphonophores, a jelly fish, and a handful of salps.
I am looking forward to going to the valley because I have been waiting to just mess around on the beach.
