﻿ELVIS THE FRIENDLY GROUPER Coming up! The Bird family visits Madeira,
and meets a famous grouper called Elvis! Welcome to Jonathan Bird’s Blue World!
Most animals in the ocean are afraid of scuba divers. Let’s face it, we make loud bubbles,
and even the most graceful divers don’t really look like they belong here. You
can’t really blame the marine life for keeping their distance.
But every once in a while, an animal approaches some divers with curiosity and learns that divers
mean them no harm. Sometimes that animal might even become an ambassador for their species,
like Elvis, the famous grouper of Madeira. The Portuguese archipelago of Madeira is an
island paradise. Combining the old world charm of Europe with a semi-tropical climate…well,
lets just say, it’s an absolutely beautiful place. Although Madeira is part of Portugal,
it’s located less than 400 miles off the coast of Africa, in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
So it’s surrounded by warm, clear water, and inhabited by warm,
friendly people. We begin our day with a drive to the dive shop.
Our divemaster Joao Martins picked us up for a short sightseeing tour on the way.
Soon we arrive at Scorpio Madeira Dive Center, run by our friend Pedro
Gomes—expert on all things Madeira. The shop is located right on the water.
With our fearless trip leader Arlindo Serrao, we start setting up our gear for the day. I have
heard so much about Elvis, I can’t wait to meet him and I worry about finding one single friendly
fish in the entire ocean. But you can’t find him if you don’t go look, so we set up the gear.
Today, Liam, Christine and I are diving,
while Elise is going to be our above water camerawoman. There,
I am ready to go! It’s a slightly convoluted walk to the boat,
but it’s good exercise. I’m getting in my steps.
Christine has the cameras and we are on our way. With Pedro driving,
we set out to the secret dive site where Elvis hangs out.
It’s actually a site in the Garajao Nature Preserve, which is six square miles of totally
protected ocean--where no fishing is allowed--and the fish live without threat from people.
This is a famous dive site where they have a big friendly grouper!
We get a quick dive briefing from Pedro, then it’s time to suit up!
Ow! I love the feeling! I’m trying! Ow! Hey you’re the one that has big hair! Thanks!
So graceful! Mask on straight! Is my head on straight? What?
Once we hit the water, we discover some seriously good visibility. I don’t know
how far we can see, but it’s way more than 30 meters. Down on the bottom,
we find big volcanic rocks covered in fuzzy algae, and lots of fish. It’s amazing what
you see when nobody is allowed to catch the fish! Liam finds a parrotfish.
Passing through a big school of sea bream, Pedro is making a beeline for
the sand. And soon I see why. Elvis is just hanging out waiting for us.
I slowly approach for a shot, but Elvis doesn’t back up. It’s so odd for a fish to tolerate divers
and bright video lights at such close range. Probably the most cooperative fish of my career!
Liam comes in to have a look…but
I guess he is kind of boring because Elvis comes back to me.
But when Liam pulls out his GoPro, Elvis definitely gets
more curious. Maybe he likes to look at his reflection in the lens? Oh man, I
look good! Elvis is a Dusky Grouper, the most common grouper species in the Mediterranean
and in the waters around Madeira. In most of their range, Dusky Groupers have declined in
number by 88% due to overfishing. But here in the Garajao Nature Preserve,
Elvis is safe. This is why marine protected areas are so important for the health of the oceans.
Pedro had told us that, like a puppy, Elvis likes a gentle rub on the head and chin.
He may like the feeling of our warm-blooded hands on his cold skin.
Pedro demonstrates that he also likes to have his gums rubbed. I’m not sure who
was the first person to try that, because those teeth are sharp!
Soon our no decompression limits are approaching so it’s time to head up to shallower water.
But Elvis doesn’t want us to leave, so he follows us up for a while.
He’s a pretty cool fish.
Up in the shallows, we need to off-gas a little,
so we take some time to film the Ferrari parrotfish.
Then Liam films a school of Striped sea bream.
Finally we head up the mooring line for our ten foot safety stop. The was amazing! I pet
a grouper! Did you? I did! Very nice! Well we meet Elvis the grouper, and Elvis seems to like divers!
So that was pretty cool! After our dives, we take the boat on a scenic tour around Madeira.
I fly the drone over the lighthouse at the far eastern end of the island.
What a view! Then we head over to a great little pool and Pedro’s son André demonstrates his high
dive skills. I chicken out. Sorry but…too high for me.
The clear water, incredible scenery and abundant marine life of Madeira make it a place that every
diver should have on their bucket list. It’s a stunning and fabulous part of the Blue World!
Hey Guys! If you want to learn more about diving in Portugal,
check out portugaldive.com. They’re the Portugal diving experts!