Muck diving

History

The term muck diving was first recorded as being used by Bob Halstead to describe diving off the beaches made up of black sand in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea.

Why people muck dive

The "muck" substrate can be the habitat for unusual, exotic and juvenile organisms that make their homes in the sediment and "trash" that compose a muck dive. The sediment and detritus environment has a different ecology to the reef. Creatures like colorful nudibranchs, anglerfish, shrimp, blue-ringed octopus, and rare pygmy seahorses may be more common, more easily found, or restricted to a sedimentary substrate.

Where people muck dive

The most publicised region for muck diving is Southeast Asia, where there are more marine species than anywhere else in the world. Places like Mabul and Kapalai in Sabah, Malaysia, Anilao and Dauin in the Philippines, Lembeh Straits in Manado, Indonesia and Bali are popular because of the different creatures found in this type of bottom ecology.

Other sedimentary bottom habitats may also provide interesting ecologies, and muck diving is possible almost anywhere that recreational diving is possible.

Skills and equipment

The equipment used is mostly standard recreational diving equipment appropriate for the region and planned dive profile, Photographic equipment is usually for macro-photography, and good buoyancy skills are highly desirable to avoid disturbing the silt, which ruins the visibility and can impact on the infauna.

References

References

1. staff (Bottom Time). "At the Back of the Boat - Bob Halstead". Scuba Diving Magazine.
2. "An Introduction to Muck Diving – Getting Down and Dirty".
3. Yevgeny Nyden. "Introduction to Muck diving at Lembeh".
4. Gronfeldt, Thomas. (23 April 2015). "Diving The Muck".