Dive Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, New Zealand

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Established in 1993 and covers 690 hectares. It is known for its muddy-bottomed, deep water habitats and is one of the most popular sites in Fiordland for recreational diving. Milford Sound is an interesting place in many ways but the reason we wanted to dive there is due to the halocline. It's a layer of fresh water on top of the salty sea water. This happens because it rains in Milford an awful lot (that's an understatement). The layer of fresh water was about 3-4m deep when we dived but it ranges from 5cm to about 17m. It's dark because it's stained with tannins from the vegetation on the cliffs. It acts in a similar way to a polarised lens, blocking a lot of light from reaching the sea water. This causes the sea water to be warmer, clearer and darker than you'd expect for that depth. This causes "Deep Water Emergence" which is a posh way of saying deep water creatures come and live in 10-40m of water rather than 300+ so you can see flora and fauna you could normally only see on TV. Milford Sound although at sea level requires certain planning to dive safely as the Milford Highway ascends to an altitude of 945m. Government regulations recommend to stay overnight in Milford Sound after diving to reduce potential risk of decompression related problems.

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