Where fish go to sleep

Sun slowly sets off above Dahab bay and day is preparing for sleep. But nowhere me. I´m preparing my equipement to a night dive. Diving on coral reef during night I like very much.

Night underwater life is very interesting and attractive for diver. After dusk the reef changse at all. Many of animals , which we didn´t see during daylight are active especialy in night. For example murenas and eels start their hunt mainly under veil of dark, little shrimps and crabs march on reef looking for food or shelter. On sandy bottom coloured snails crawl and direct to their prey. The well known,, Spanish dancer“ is real beauty. Charming feather stars during daylight hidden in cracks now climb up to top placesat reef, they wave elegant and catch plankton. Lionfish spin out and toss their fancy fins, they are champions in hunting. Especialy during night and thank to their invention. They clever use light of diver´s lamps . Little fish are blind for a moment by their lamps and so they become a simply prey.

But what about fish, for whom the night mean only survive the night to another day? They sleep somewhere in hidden places and hope, that they won´t become a food for predators. Sometimes I am very suprised where all I meet sleeping fish. Butterflyfish, anglerfish and others mostly sleep in some crack in reef, carefully hidden and immobile. Special way how to survive have parrotfish, they cover againts predators not to be smelt. They sleep in ,,sleeping bag“. They find some perfect place and make a slime bag, which cover their scent so predator can´t smell them. In the morning the fish eats the slime bag and goes to the hurry coral metropole. Some fish provoke the chance, they only fall asleep somewhere at open place on reef. For example the pufferfish. During night dives I often come across with them, and if my light blind them by mistake, they blind confusedly swimm around and crash to the reef. From all these things you see that fish could sleep everywhere, they only try to find a little hidden place where they could survive night and to complicate predator´s job. Most of fish sleeps at same places, it could be said in some kind of ,,fish bedrooms“. Sometimes there are some together. Such clownfish don´t have problems with calm sleep. Their anemone takes them to her soothing arms and ,,guard“ them all night.

In spite off these curious places can´t be so unique like one I know. I discover it in Red sea at place named Lighthouse at city Dahab. In depth 18m between coral towers there is funnel of blue sea sponge. Certainly it´s here for a long time. I never think that it could be somehow interesting, till one time. Last year in April during night dive. I swam around, as many times ago, and I decided to light and look to it. What I saw I didn´t expect. Inside was sleeping fish. So look how lovely place she find to last out the night, there must be sleeping really soft.

Next night, we again go to a night dive, and immediately at the beginning of dive we go to see the sponge. Fish isn´t here. I am dissapointed, yesterday sleeper sleep there by chance. Nevertheless before end of dive I must swim to the sponge and look to it. She is here!! She is really here, as yesterday. It is Lyretail hogfish. There´is no doupts that I came across with one of ,,the fish bedroom“. Every next dive I always stop at sponge to ,,say hello“ to this amazing sleeper. I have discovered that she doesn´t go sleep befer 8:30pm. If we went to dive earlier she wasn´t in sponge. I´m looking forward to every night dive and before look to the sponge I always say: ,,Will be there or not? And if not, what happened with her?“ To my big pleasure she is always here. During every my visit to Dahab I couldn´t wait to dive at night and check sponge with sleeping fish.


Now it´s 4 months later from the time when I saw the sleeping fish for the first time and now I am again in Dahab for my holidays. Of course I am most looking forward to night dive. Imaptiently I wait till the 8pm is at clock, I prepare my equipement and jump to water. With strong intensity if I will see my sleeping hogfish at right place, I swimm between coral towers. I see siluet of ,,my“ sponge. I look into it ...and...she is in. Incredible she is in. I am unreal happy. Everything is at their right places and during my summer holidays I´m going sometimes to,, check it“. The last time I saw my sleeping hogfish was in the end of October. With iron regularity hogfish goes sleep to her place more than 8 mounths. In my head I make up plans about making film, I will follow the fish, I discovered everything about her, I will watch her how she goes sleep...when she gets up in the morning...

It seems that nothing could destroy place like this, but the opposite is true. This magic place for me, not amazing to take photographs but also to observe it, I didn´t find this year during Easter holidays. The sponge isn´t at it´s place. It is gone.

Human bad sides came also to this calm, beaty and nothing disturbed world. Someone careless most likely damaged the sponge. The sponge which is also animal and which did hidding place not only to ,,my“ hogfish but also to another animals, was in one moment of inattention or even vandalism destroyed. I again realize how weak is nature and that it´s need to be very considerateto it and we must try to protect it more. I will never know what really happened with the sponge and I will never see the small fish, who lived here. What does the fish without home? Where is she now going to sleep?