GreatAustralia’s Barrier Reef —Ribbon Reef, Osprey Reef & Shark Diving Text and photos by Brandi Mueller 21 X-RAY MAG : 70 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Australia View of Great Barrier Reef from liveaboard Spoilsport. PREVIOUS PAGE: Anemone with anemonefish at Half Way If there was a place that demise of many famous sailor’s types of seaweed and algae; inspired me to become ships), Aboriginal connections 125 species of sharks and sting- and the people who survived rays; 5,000 species of mollusk; a diver and invoked my by the reef (who have been liv- 58 species of seahorses and passion and love for the ing in the area for at least 40,000 pipefish; 30 species of whales, ocean, it was Australia’s years), and also research that dolphins and porpoises; as well Great Barrier Reef (GBR). has been done on the reef and as turtles, dugongs and saltwater its current state of health (not crocodiles. As a kid, I could spend good overall, like most of the Whew, those are some pretty hours watching televi- Earth’s reefs). awesome stats—and I get to sion specials about this The book listed the GBR stats, spend a week diving it! blue, fish-filled world that which can easily be found Jealous? You should be. In his through any Google search book, McCalman quotes British was so different from the or Wikipedia. It is the larg- geologist Joseph Jukes who, Wisconsin farm town I est coral reef system on Earth. while serving as a naturalist on grew up in. You can see it from space. It is a GBR exploration expedition in one of the seven natural won- the mid-1800s, said: “What an While flying to Australia on my ders of the world, as well as a inconceivable amount of animal way to dive the GBR for a week World Heritage Site. It covers life must be here scattered over with Mike Ball Dive Expeditions over 344,000 square kilometers the bottom of the sea, to say (MBDE), I was reading The Reef (133,000 sq. miles) and encom- nothing of moving through its by Iain McCalman. The book passes more than 900 islands. It waters, and this through spaces was about the history of the GBR is home to more than 1,500 fish of hundreds of miles. Every cor- from its discovery (mostly at the species; 400 coral species; 500 ner and crevice, every point Reef scene at Steve’s Bommie (above); Sweetlips with cleaner wrasse at Goggle Gardens (top right) 22 X-RAY MAG : 70 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Australia THIS PAGE: Scenes from Cod Hole where friendly potato cods interact with divers; Cleaner wrasse and potato cod (above); Underwater photographer and puffer fish at Gotham City (left) We left Cairns shortly after waves are common. boarding and headed north Thankfully, sunshine overnight. I would like to say greeted us in the morn- the soft and gentle sway of the ing at Ribbon Reef boat rocked us to sleep, but #10 for our first dive at in reality it actually knocked Goggle Gardens. a few of us out of our beds. August is winter in the Southern Goggle Gardens. An Hemisphere, and wind and easy dive, it was great for orientation and get- ting back into the swing occupied by living beings, which, of things. We found as they become more minute, pretty coral formations increase in tenfold abundance.” and plenty of fish. A few I was looking forward to see for whitetip reef sharks were myself what was “moving through hanging out in the sand its waters.” below us as we slowly Finally arriving in Cairns, I col- made our way around lected my luggage and headed the gardens, taking in all down towards the harbor to the the marine life around us. MBDE office. With a few hours to myself before it was time to board Cod Hole. Up next was the boat, I wandered down the one of the GBR’s most Esplanade at the water’s edge, famous dive sites, Cod Hole, close and personal to take pho- our many cameras. They even eager to meet my shipmates and known for its friendly potato cods. tos. allowed us to snap photos of start diving. These charismatic (and large) fish Three large cods were right them with their mouths wide either swarm divers or act com- under the boat when we jumped open while being cleaned by tiny Day 1: Ribbon Reef #10 pletely indifferent as divers get up in and they happily posed for cleaner wrasse. 23 X-RAY MAG : 70 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Critters at Gotham City include school of trev- ally, flatworm, batfish, scorpionfish, travel nudibranch and jellyfish Australia Grotto. Getting into the water before breakfast, the sun was still low in the sky and bright rays of yellow light shone through the water onto the reef. We swam into a light current along the edge of the wall, looking out into the blue for sharks that often swim by. Along the wall, fish swam side- ways and looking down on them, it almost felt as if we were flying. Admiralty Anchor. Our second dive site was at Admiralty Anchor, which was also a wall dive; at the top of the wall were lots of little swim-throughs and interesting rock and coral topography, mak- #10 have learned to follow night divers. Like a pack of hungry dogs, they fol- low divers, and as soon as someone stops to look at an unsuspecting sleeping fish, the jacks dart in and gobble up the resting fish. Although we tried hard ing the dive site seem like a fun not to expose the jacks’ maze. So named because of an potential prey to this dan- anchor that could be seen at the ger, the jacks nevertheless end of one of the swim-throughs, managed to snatch away we saw plenty of fish and a turtle. a few more such “snacks” for dinner before the divers False Entrance. Our last dive site returned to the surface. of the day was False Entrance, After the last dive, the captain which had a beautiful sheer wall Gotham City. Our fifth and last started the engines and, over the boat moored at the edge dive of the day was a night dive the course of the night (another with sheer walls descending 2,000 of. Right under the boat was a at Gotham City. It turned out to bumpy one), took us to Osprey meters (6,500ft). It is known for its large school of trevally; while be one of the few night dives of Reef, 348km (216 miles) northeast great visibility and an abundance photographing them, a huge my life where I wished I had a of Cairns. of pelagic marine life. bumphead parrotfish swam by. I wide-angle lens on. You might cruised the wall for a little while as think fish aren’t very smart, but Day 2: Osprey Reef Fairy Grotto. We started our dive grey reef sharks, including several the jacks around Ribbon Reef Osprey Reef is a submerged atoll at a beautiful site named Fairy babies, swam up and down the 24 X-RAY MAG : 70 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Whale shark (left and lower left) at False Entrance; Red sea fan (right) at False Entrance; Anemonefish and Australia travel anemone on reef at Fairy Grotto (below) decided to take one more look off the edge of the wall. In the dis- tance, I saw a shadow. A large shadow. My heart rate accelerated as the shadow got larger and closer till it was moving directly toward me. I had to actually tell myself to calm down and get the camera ready (and pinch myself to see if it was real- ly happening). The shad- ow morphed into a huge whale shark that swam directly over me. It then turned in a circle and came back towards me, turned again, and then continued on. I was about to pinch myself again (just to check) as where it’s almost guaranteed you can another diver showed up at the perfect see whale sharks, either seasonally or time for me to get a shot with him and because they are being fed. But when the whale shark. you think of how large the Coral Sea is The whale shark was the talk of the and how little time we spent underwater boat for the rest of the day. I find one of there, what are the odds of such a rare wall. I headed back into the shallow reef Unsuccessful in my bar- the most amazing things about diving is creature to just happen to swim by at just area to try and find a school of barracu- racuda hunt, I headed seeing the unexpected in situations like that moment on the edge of that exact da the dive guides said were often there. back to the boat but this. There are some places you can go part of the wall? I found it breath-taking. 25 X-RAY MAG : 70 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Mike Ball Dive travel Australia EXPEDITIONS COD HOLE • CORAL SEA • GREAT BARRIER REEF • AUSTRALIA Expeditions On the Wild Side the sharks and divers, helps to promote a positive image of sharks to the non-diving The Best Diving on the population.