Granada – Day 4: Diving in Apoyo Lagoon
GRANADA
Day 4: Diving in Apoyo Lagoon
January 08, 2023
Having proven to ourselves that we can, in fact, survive anything, Amelia and I decided to add yet another thing to our itinerary. We were supposed to move on to our next destination but instead, we decided to extend our stay in Granada and do something that felt closer to home. We’d be going to Apoyo Lagoon in order to – wait for it… DIVE!
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Lago de Apoyo, a volcanic lake that’s about twenty square kilometres in size, is said to be the cleanest and deepest lake in Nicaragua and is protected as a natural reserve. We’d be diving with the Volcano Divers dive shop, with Edgar being the dive instructor and ecologist running the place.Â
Of Fish and Birds
Apart from a dive shop, Edgar explained, the site is also an ecological centre involved in research and conservation where many experts and non-experts alike come to volunteer in order to learn about Lago de Apoyo’s ecology, with a focus on the flora and fauna that inhabit the lake and its surroundings.Â
Interestingly enough, he told us that in Apoyo Lagoon and Lago Xiloá there are seven endemic species of cichlid fish, with five of them being exclusive to the former, including the arrow cichlid (Amphilophus zaliosus). Several alien species have been introduced to the lakes over the years, which, he added, always poses a threat to the delicate ecosystem. However, he also said that despite this, most alien species have failed to thrive, as was the case with tilapia. This, according to him, could be due to several things, with some of his hypotheses being:Â
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The native species have evolved and occupied such a specific niche that it makes it difficult for other competitors to thrive.
Tilapia usually inhabit bigger bodies of water that offer larger watershed areas and provide more nutrients.
The conical shape of the lake provides a smaller photic zone, meaning that once again, the nutrients required to support tilapia aren’t sufficient here.
He then told us that his original interest lay in birds. He studied them for twenty-three years, being able to discern between the same bird’s plumage regardless of it being male or female, juvenile or adult, or in breeding season. Given that there are some ten thousand species of birds, this means that one would have to be able to identify some fifty thousand different types of plumage – crazy!
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Crazier still, he went on, were fish – which, at the time, were the last thing on his mind. Apart from the colours they exhibit with the same variations, he also recounted a tale of when he stumbled upon a durgon with a differently coloured stripe than usual. His mentor later told him that it was the same species he had seen a thousand times before – only when it is scared, it changes the stripe’s colour. This meant that apart from needing to identify the twelve thousand fish species that have already been recorded, one would also have to account for the colour variation fish exhibit when they feel different emotions!Â
Having always focused on birds, he decided to forego all this hesitation when his mentor specifically asked for his help to research Nicaragua’s freshwater fish.
Conservation with The Naturalism School
Having graduated as an ecologist, Edgar now spends his days working as a professor, taking part in conservation projects and diving. He is involved in an NGO called The Naturalism School whose main aim is to empower youth in rural communities in Nicaragua.
They have various projects, such as providing free Duolingo memberships to marginalised youths who have no access to education (and then actually assessing their progress through presentations and tests), as well as photography courses (then encouraging them to take part in Nikon photo competitions) and hands-on biology courses (the lake being the best learnign site!). The cornerstones of the NGO, as listed on their site, are based on:
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Education: To educate the community youth about biodiversity, conservation elements, functions and ecological dynamics of the natural ecosystems in Nicaragua.
Capacitation: To train the community youth in communication techniques, rescue techniques, first aid and primary and secondary care of victims of accidents and natural disasters.
Contribution: To contribute to conservation by providing data through field observations in real time via digital platforms such as eBird and iNaturalist (apps used to identify animal and plant species) as a way to enrich knowledge and understand ecosystem changes.
Replication: To produce didactic tools for replication processes of this type of programme and for environmental education projects.
Being so inspired by all of this, I expressed my interest in a possible volunteering or internship position in the future, to which Edgar replied that it would totally be possible. They cater such positions to people from all walks of life, tailoring their programmes based on each individual’s skills and areas of interest. I swore to myself that I’d do this one day (or something similar elsewhere).
Onto Our First Shore Dive
After showing us around the place, it was finally time for our dive. Miguel, a local divemaster, would be taking us for a shore dive into the lake. Fully geared up, we made our way to the shore and walked in. Our very first shore dive!
I have to admit that using different equipment than the one I always used back at Underwater Vision felt a bit like cheating on the place that taught me everything I knew, but after getting over my initial guilt, I quickly forgot all about it and descended into the water. Aaaah, to be diving again – what an unreal feeling! The second we were underwater, Amelia and I shared this look of relief, as if we had just returned home. We were back, baby!
Quite unexpectedly, the visibility was great. Much like when I had started my divemaster training programme, it took me quite a while to get my buoyancy under control. This time round though, it wasn’t my ineptitude so much as freshwater being way less dense than saltwater. I kept on inflating my BCD in tiny increments as I had been taught, but this proved pretty useless. At one point, I held the inflator button for a full three seconds and still plummeted down into the muddy floor of the lake. I swear, I silted the whole place up at least three times before I figured out the balance. I’m sure Miguel must have thought I was an Open Water diver!
That said, once I had it all figured out, it was quite a straightforward dive. We saw the cichlids Edgar had mentioned a few minutes before – namely Amphilophus sp., A. zaliosum and A. flaveolus, with the arrow cichlid evading our sight. Apart from this, we encountered a few other species of fish and crabs.Â
I gotta admit, having gotten used to diving in the Mesoamerican Coral Reef, this was very different. It wasn’t boring per se, just a bit unglamorous. It was just silt, mud, rocks and lake algae, with the occasional thermal vent releasing bubbles of hot air – now that’s cool. Having said that, it was still a great experience. But admittedly, it was more Edgar’s work that stole my attention. I just hope I’ll be able to partake in something similar myself one day!Â