Our first dive was at Blue Fish Wall, a favourite of diving stalwart, Tony Pantamise: and, once again, one could see the reasons why. Large schools of Pomfret and Yellowtail each competed with each other for the most spectacular display of fish together. The fish in those schools wrapped themselves around us as we ventured on our way. The only question which needed to be asked, again and again during this dive, was which way we should look. Every direction around us presented a unique visual experience: intermittent flashes of strobe-like light appeared suddenly as light bounced off bright silver bodies of certain Yellowtail, the sea foaming above us as waves hit the top of adjacent underwater cliffs, ‘eye to eye’ contact with a myriad of fish, reminding us each time that these schools were made up of distinct individuals.
Our second dive was at Macquarie Lighthouse. Before entering the water, the main questions on one's mind were: would any seals appreciate how much we wanted them to join us; and could those seals read our minds! At least one of those seals did indeed seem to read our thoughts and happily entered the water almost immediately. But once underwater, initially none were to be seen. That seal was now reading our minds incorrectly: it was not supposed to be a 'cat and mouse game'! At this location, however, it did not really matter, as it is a truly magnificent dive site in terms of its aquatic life and topography: so there was so much to see and explore. We had only started our exploration of this site when suddenly, the game of 'cat and mouse' became 'human and seal' - in the best possible way. Words cannot truly describe the experience, and nor can videos nor photos. The three dimensional, ethereal, experience of interacting with seals underwater defies any accurate description. At best, all of the foregoing are simply things to jog one's memory of the sights and sensations of this unique experience. It was not long before the seal had encouraged at least one of our group to learn his 'twist and turn' moves! The two of them, seal and diver, unwittingly performed an amazing underwater ballet or dance routine - infinitely better than anything seen on land. This dive site still needed to be seen, so we moved on, albeit reluctantly, and unintentionally 'moved on' a Wobbegong in our way: that Wobbegong, showing how quick a Wobbegong can move, soon found a nook to stick its head in (the underwater equivalent of 'head in the sand'?) and soon its whole body was concealed within - except for its tail still ticking out. We found our own swim throughs to penetrate and discovered waterfalls of Eastern Hullas on the other side. Looking under this or that boulder, nearly every inspection was rewarded with a school of Bulls Eyes here, different species of wrasses, supersized Blue Groper, and so much more.
Meandering though a sort of underwater maze, we encountered a scene both fantastic and surreal. A very large seal found us and entertained us with glorious pirouettes, etc, where tiny silver air bubbles streamed from its body like magic dust. The scene became yet more unbelievable when it stopped to recline on a boulder, at our eye height, in the middle of us all - holding his head this way and that, as though he were a model on a podium, posing for photos, and expecting to be photographed. He was photographed a lot and he was greatly admired by us all. After the dive, we all marvelled at this unusual scene causing one to reflect on the ingredients that made it stand out so much. What is beyond dispute is that one can have multiple encounters with seals and, each time, the experience moves you and transforms you somehow.
After doing these two quite different dives, life on land, however good, does seem quite drab in comparison with the colour, excitement, and exhilaration of diving here in Sydney. The weather was good and the diving was much better than great. It was wonderful to be underwater yesterday.
Eric Wohl