the ocean, my home

a place to discuss my ocean adventures, past, present and future. bottom time to date: 253:04

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Chow Time

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New Born

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Manta Ray Night Dive - Kona, Hawaii. (2014) Took me almost two years to edit the footage, but I finally got around to it. Such a memorable dive!! We were lucky to have at least 15+ mantas turn up to amaze us

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Clear Blue Diving

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Grey Nurse Shark by PH Chong Via Flickr: The Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharias taurus) also known as the sand tiger shark or spotted ragged-tooth shark, is one of four species belonging to the family Odontaspididae. The species has a large, rather stout body and is coloured grey to grey-brown dorsally, with a paler off white under belly. Reddish or brownish spots may occur on the caudal fin and posterior half of the body, particularly in juveniles. The species has a conical snout, long awl-like teeth in both jaws (with single lateral cusplets), similarly sized first and second dorsal fin and an asymmetrical caudal fin. Grey nurse sharks grow to at least 3.6 metres in length. The grey nurse shark is a slow but strong swimmer and is generally more active at night. Grey nurse sharks are often observed just above the sea bed in or near deep sandy-bottomed gutters or rocky caves, in the vicinity of inshore rocky reefs and islands. The diet of the adult grey nurse shark consists of a wide range of fish, other sharks, squids, crabs and lobsters.

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Pile Up

Diving with a current can be an exhilarating feeling, however it can lead to some challenge as a dive guide, if you are trying to show your guests a particular type of fish.

It becomes even more of a challenge when they all want to take photos of it! In this scene, I chose to take photos of them instead.

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Vertigo

It can be difficult to remember which way was up, when taking photographs in such pristine conditions. This photograph was taken along a reef wall which dropped down to at least 100m, however if I rotated the image sideways, it could easily resemble a flat reef surface.

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Eastern Red Scorpionfish, Scorpaena jacksoniensis

Very common in the temperate Sydney waters. While not the most pleasant fish to look at, they make extremely co-operative models as they do not move much at all (unless threatened).

Often seen as a hazard while diving due to their poisonous spines, they’re relatively harmless as long as you are aware of them. However that can be difficult as they camouflage extremely well with their surroundings.

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Reaper Cuttlefish, Sepia mestus

One of three types of cuttlefish that are very common along the NSW coast. Stunning little creatures that are capable of changing the colour of the skin much like an octopus does.

Photographed at Shark Point, Sydney.

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What a waste - the problems of un-selective fishing

Small fish tend to hang around the big fish, this keeps them safe. It doesn’t seem very practical does it? The small fish actually likes hanging around the big ass sharks that see them as food.

As a result of this, there are usually large schools of fish around the areas where sharks hang out, and as a result.. in come the fisherman.

I don’t know what happened to this particular shark, however I know teams from the Sea Life aquariums in Sydney managed to catch and remove hooks from other Grey Nurse Sharks in the area.

These hooks are particularly potent as modern tech has allowed us to use hooks that aren’t easy to remove, nor erode. So these hooks stay in the poor creature until other complications arise and they die :(

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A really humbling experience, this was the shark dive aboard the Spirit of Freedom as we visited Osprey Reef on the Great Barrier Reef in far north Queensland.

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Eastern Frogfish, Batrachomoeus dubius

I’ve only seen these fish once the sun comes down, and often tucked away under a rock ledging. They are certainly shy, and with a face like that who could blame them. To further my puppy analogies, I would call these the Pugs of the sea. They’ve got those faces that are so cute, they’re kinda ugly!!

Photographed at Camp Cove, Sydney.

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Common Stingaree, Trygonoptera testacea

Once again taken on a night dive at Camp Cove, Sydney. What I love most about this shot is the detail of its eye, it feels like it was bought from an arts and crafts store and stuck on.

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Sharks!! I’m blessed to live very close to a GNS (Grey Nurse Shark) colony in South Maroubra, Sydney. Often compared to the Labrador of the ocean, these beautiful sharks look a lot more menacing than they are.

Greynurse Shark, Carcharias taurus Rafinesque.

http://australianmuseum.net.au/greynurse-shark-carcharias-taurus-rafinesque-1810

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Southern Calamari Squid, Sepioteuthis australis

These squid are most active at night, however I often see them floating around in schools during the daytime. Quite a nice site to watch these semi translucent creatures gracefully swim through the waters.

Taken at Camp Cove, Sydney

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Southern Pygmy Leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus

Endemic to Australia, this little critter was about the size of two fingers, as he fled into a nearby pipe I captured this shot as he was checking to make sure I was gone.

Taken at Camp Cove, Sydney.

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One of my first dives, but still very fresh in my mind. The vis really opened up in Sydney that day.

Colours Reef, Sydney