As this year's end fast approaches, birthdays are celebrated (including today!) and end of year's festivities crown a year full of spectacular diving. So it seems only natural and fitting that last week's Bull/Smooth Ray extravaganza should continue today - but with even more surprises:
Dive #1: The Blocks: This morning, a grey sky had no chance at all of dampening our spirits prior to commencing our dive. And miraculously, Mitchell's birthday ensured every cloud in the sky cleared before the first diver jumped in. So effective was that birthday effect that blue skies remained in place until the conclusion of our last dive. Soon we were to discover that celestial birthday presents appear under water as well as above.
It was not long before we commenced our exploration of this site Drawn deeper and deeper, we glided over and in between boulders, and over large terraces decorated in colourful sponges. Different species of fish tried to distract us, as spruikers trying to sell something might. The spruikers were successful in injecting us with an energy that no one could have predicted. A Smooth Ray appeared moving slowly, as if it were stopping and going, so as to be able to enjoy things along the way (just like us). And then it was gone. Reaching the seabed, a blue groper did pirouettes and other skilful moves in search of food - or so as to entertain us. We were dramatically woken out of this reverie by Felipe grabbing hold of my BCD: turning right around, a huge Smooth Ray 3-4m long, appeared close by - so close as to fly under one of my divers. That diver remembered well my injunction not to get directly above or straight in front of a Smooth Ray but was now unsure how things were going to pan out when it was the ray, in fact, who was responsible for this uncomfortable juxtaposition of diver and ray. One can imagine the perspective of this huge ray passing directly beneath you and then seeing its deadly barb. But divers need to be grown up and brave: this diver was both! Truncating this bit of possibly anxious speculation (on everyone's part), the huge ray kept moving.
As happens so often, swimming back to the boat, felt like waking from a dream. But in this case, a dream now kissed by the golden confetti from a glorious sun.
Dive #2: Old Man's Hat: A birthday diver, Mitchell, deserved a Weedy Sea Dragon. Let me revise this: every diver deserves to see a Weedy Sea Dragon. So our quest, for both Mitchell and for the rest of us, was to explore the deeper parts of Old Man's Hat, in search of one of these extraordinary creatures of the sea. This is easier said than done. Especially given their "cryptic" camouflage which is so effective in concealing them amongst kelp. Not only did we find one, the one we found was pregnant - tilting under the weight of its bundle of delight. It is the male which carries the babies: between about 70 and 250 (few of which, however, survive once they have to fend for themselves: which is straight after they are born). Weedies are endemic to the temperate waters of mainland Australia but whereas Seahorses, to which Weedies are related, keep their babies in a kangaroo-like pouch, Weedies, on the other hand, keep their babies attached to their tail. It is hard not to dwell alongside a Weedy, let alone a pregnant one, and not fall under its spell. We were possessed by and obsessed with its unlikely shape and intricate colouring. Entranced as we were, our no-deco time, rudely dictated that we should finally, albeit reluctantly, make a move. But the best of intentions are easily undone, and we had moved barely a few metres before we had to stop in our tracks: two small stingarees appeared in front of us: one with only its eyes protruding above the sand and the other sitting atop the sand (like a couple in bed, one under the Doona and the other on top of it!). The comparison of the biggest sting rays in the world on our first dive with these tiny rays could hardly have been more extreme. As you can see, extreme diving comes in many forms. Talia later commented perceptively on their steel marble-like eyes which were as captivating as those of the gigantic Smooth Rays. A One Spot Puller blew kisses at us - through pouting lips, before turning his or her attention back to his or her companion. The gulf between fish and humans is not as big as some might imagine. With our "no stop" time continuing to count down, we had just enough time to sink into the vertical shaft of a swim through. It's entrance was guarded and flanked by two pairs of Black Reef Leatherjackets. The Australian Museum and others refer to these fish as being "shy": Great Whites and many other sharks are shy (despite their reputation to the contrary), but Black Reef Leatherjackets are not! What they are is monogamous: one almost always sees them in pairs.
We slipped into the swim through and I hoped my divers would heed the advice given to me many years ago by Rod de Groot, to go slowly through swim throughs, in order to really appreciate them. At least this way my divers might better enjoy seeing the denizens that dwell within that space: here fish hung as if suspended in crystal glass, so clear was the water within. Coming out of the swim through, thirty or so Yellowtail circled within an invisible cone shaped vortex, producing a dizzying spell - both for the Yellowtail as well as for us in simply watching them. The scene's magic was magnified by those same fish now commencing to spin out of that vortex as if connected to enchanted thread being slowly unwound from a loom. That silver thread of fish unfurled itself to our right in open water. This is a scene that really has to be seen to be truly appreciated: brightly illuminated silver flecked in gold, set against a deeper blue background. Adam could barely contain himself. He now directed and drove himself forward, as if possessed, with camera in hand. I should add, as an aside, that Adam is actually a film director. Adam was quickly absorbed into that school with those silver threads of fish now tangled all around him. I regret not having a camera with me to capture his "entanglement". Love and passion in its different forms, entangles in much the same way - whether under or above water! His journey involved a metamorphosis from scuba diver to bewitched member within this school. His exhilaration was also ours as we observed this scene. It showed how underwater every spectator can quickly and easily become one of the actors in a movie playing out before our eyes, where such scenes begin as quickly as another ends.
I often say that seeing and experiencing such scenes are the very reason for diving each week and I need to say that every week this very reason is re-affirmed. I eagerly await our next next dive underwater here in Sydney.
Eric
