Fish Rock Living Up To Its Name

Fish Rock is one of those dive sites that you can count on. I have been three times now and each trip has been well worth the seven-hour drive from Brisbane. South West Rocks is located half way between Brisbane and Sydney on Australia’s east coast and is also a great place to visit topside, forgetting the world-class dive site on its doorstep.

We went a few weeks ago, in the mid southern hemisphere winter, for a weekend trip and whilst the water was cold we were lucky to have clear blue skies. We’d made the pilgrimage to South West Rocks to see the Grey Nurse Sharks, also known as Sand Tiger or Ragged Tooth Sharks, which aggregate there pretty much year round.

The diving and accommodation was organised by Jon at Fish Rock Dive Centre who was very professional, extremely friendly and instantly won us over with hot soup and windbreakers for our surface intervals on the boat.

Unfortunately there had been some fairly strong swells a couple of days before and the visibility was pretty limited but it didn’t stop us from coming face to face with hoards of Grey Nurses. These sharks look extremely menacing due to their prominent teeth but in fact these are perfectly adapted for catching small fish rather than attacking humans. We saw at least 20 on each dive, which included pregnant females and some adolescents. This was great to see as the Australian east coast population of these animals is listen as critically endangered and numbers in the hundreds. I have posted some of my shots from the weekend on my website.

On a slightly sour note I am amazed how little protection these animals receive at Fish Rock given their rarity. Research at the site has found that around 40% of the animals have embedded hooks which they get from the many recreational fisherman who are allowed to fish all around this critical habitat. There has been continued lobbying to make this a no-take marine reserve to protect these stunning animals.

Originally written for my FiNS blog

First Few Days in Tonga

Having had a slow start to our Humpback whale watching experiences here in Tonga today was an absolutely mind blowing and unforgettable day! It is only the beginning of the season here in Vava’u, a northern island group in the Kingdom of Tonga, but the whales are starting to show up in increasing numbers. The season generally runs from mid July to October but apparently they are a little late in arriving this year.

For two days we caught only brief glimpses, whetting our appetites for the famed encounters that have attracted increasing numbers of wildlife enthusiasts over the past few years. The whales migrate here from the Antarctic searching for warm, benign waters in which to give birth and mate.

Finally today we finally struck gold and had some great in-water encounters! First thing this morning our eagle-eyed guide spotted a whale within only tens of meters from the rugged cliff edge of an island and we managed to spend a little time with it in the water. It was an adolescent who was on a mission to the open sea but it did make a couple of close passes to check us out.

We then headed to the open ocean where we came across a group comprising a female and three potential male suitors. We ended up in the middle of a heavy weight match between the males trying to entice the female. We didn’t get in the water since a misplaced pectoral fin or tail could easily give you a headache to remember.

Later we motored east and came across another group of four, again a female and three males. We had two amazing swims with this group, which were again jostling for the female’s attention but were much less violent! Although humans clearly aren’t on their menu their sheer size can be quite intimidating, especially when your in amongst four of these giant animals!

This was the first time I’d ever seem a whale in the water and it really was a dream come true and something I will never forget. It is a shame that this is a very sensitive time for whale conservation as the International Whaling Commission works hard to prevent breakaway nations from resuming commercial whaling which, as we all know, drove many species to the brink of extinction. Seeing these amazing creatures face-to-face gives not a moments hesitation as to which side of the argument to support.

Originally written for my FiNS blog.

My Publications

I have just created a folder in the Gallery section of my website with all my publications.  Well, nearly all and I'll be finishing it off over the coming days.  Check it out!

Critter ID-Sport Diving Magazine - NEW SPECIES!

Check out the new issue (134) of Sport Diving Magazine which is now on the shelves of news agents throughout Australia and Asia.  Apart from the front cover I have some some images of creatures I have been unable to identify.  This doesn't happen very often so I thought I'd get a second opinion on these species.  Neville Coleman, the legend of a natural historian, writes a regular species ID feature and had a look at my photos.  Two of the species, a velvetfish and a nudibranch, he had never seen before, one nudibranch he's seen but isn't yet named and he was able to confirm my guestimate of the identity of an unusual Inimicus species.

The velvetfish was found by my friend Yann Alfian at a random bay in Komodo where we thought it looked interesting and jumped in one night!  There were a pair of these velvetfish at around 20 m and neither Yann or I had seen them before.  The nudibranch was found by Paul Batuna in Kalibahi Bay in Alor on a silty site.  I am pretty good with nudibranch ID but didn't even know where to start with that one!