Freediving for lobsters at night
Ed Cook takes a break from doing battle with the redoubtable rabbit to indulge in his passion of freediving for lobsters at night
For some years I have had a huge interest in the sea and spent much of my spare time pursuing this. In downtime from my day job dealing with rabbits you will often find me somewhere on the Dorset coast, either by day or night. It is an area that I’m fond of and one I always look forward to visiting time and again. I love fishing with my rod or speargun, enjoy snorkelling around the bays, investigating what lies under the rocks, collecting seaweed from the shore, scuba diving for scallops, or investigating my way around wrecks.
Risks
However, the activity I prize above all others and the one I find the most exciting is freediving for lobsters at night. Hardly a popular activity, granted, but for the handful of us who participate it is a way to collect sustainably a small number of crustaceans for the table, as well as being great fun and good exercise. Like any activity in the sea, it has its risks, so one has to have a good understanding of the currents and weather, as well as other divers, and what to do if things do go wrong. And, last but not least, the intended bounty can and will quite rightly fight back in the form of two powerful claws, which are capable of delivering pain and damage if you don’t grab them correctly.
Lobsters like to back up under the safety of rocks or in broken ground during the day, where they can ambush their prey as it passes, but at night they venture into more open ground, which makes them easier to find if you are willing to take to the sea in
“You have to act quickly, hold your breath and dive down”
the dark. Late summer is the time to do this, when the sea is warm and often flat calm, especially if the weather has been settled, which can see the sea be almost gin-clear with visibility often exceeding 10 metres.
When the sun sets, I don my freediving wetsuit, fins, snorkel and mask, grab my torch and make my way into water no deeper than eight metres, or to where I can see the seabed and all its features. The sea comes alive at night under torchlight and it is truly amazing to see all the critters, both big and small. Bass, crabs, congers can all be seen in this endlessly fascinating underwater kaleidoscope. What makes it so exciting is that you never know what is going to appear around the next rock.
Combat
I keep swimming until my torch illuminates a big blue crustacean. Almost instantly the lobster will raise its claws as a warning on becoming illuminated. You now have to act quickly, hold your breath, dive down and use one hand to distract the lobster while the other hand grabs it. Slowness will be punished with a nip or the lobster will reverse torpedo-like into the abyss. It is certainly a challenge by any interpretation and one that I feel is a fair combat for both sides.
I always ignore the small lobsters for future-stock purposes, but those with a carapace of around four inches long are perfect for keeping. Swimming with a live lobster is awkward to say the least, so my companion and I rig a floating-net system that we drag behind us as we swim.
I have great respect for the sea and its power. I have spent a lot of time swimming and understanding the currents and tides in various locations, which has helped me to catch lobsters in this way. For most of us, the chances of getting a fresh lobster at a sensible price are slim. It is a food for a special occasion. While catching one this way is hard work, is not without dangers and, for me, involves a long drive to the coast, what a great thrill it is, and one that I aim to continue to experience.