Under the Sea

It is often hard to describe what a strange place it is under the waves, so I will let the pictures do the talking for me. All of these photos were taken on the Great Barrier Reef last week while under the sea with my dive-buddy, Jenny.


Jenny and I crammed eleven dives in to three days while we were "living aboard" on the Great Barrier Reef. Jen is shown hovering above some interesting varieties of coral.


We almost bumped in to two enormous cuttlefish last Thursday. These molluscs were bigger than footballs and hovered and rotated like aliens in another world. Colours ripple and change over their body depending on how they feel and you can easily see if you are getting too close. I didn't try to pat these guys in case they decided to "ink" me.


Ange, I wonder if you will be able to keep up with the food bill when your turtles are as big as this guy!? This turtle was just munching on some coral and cruising along at about ten metres. Jenny and I were lucky to spot him because we were just about out of air and heading back to the dive boat.


White-tip reef sharks were pretty common on the reef. They are not lethal to humans and are actually fairly timid. I certainly couldn't get much closer than this photo indicates before the sharks get spooked and sidle off some distance.


It really is a three-dimensional world on the reef. The coral grows and forms interesting structures. This little gap is is a great spot for fish to take a break from any surge near the surface. We also found a little cave to swim through a little further on.


I took a shine to these strange fish with the pointy noses. It is really difficult (impossible?) to talk under water, so there are some standard hand signals that divers use to communicate to each other. Jenny and I have been diving together for a while now so we have started to incorporate novel gestures. I doubt, though, that our signal for "pointy-nose fish" would be novel!


Giant clams are real! They do not just live in the realm of computer games. Apparently, just like in the computer games, their grip is phenomenal and I was very careful not to stick my hand in! If you do, you're not getting it back... ever. Watch your pressure gauges, Jenny!


Thousands and thousands of fish! A tough life, by my standards, but these guys flourish amongst the coral. Diving or snorkelling on the reef is amazing stuff! Cheers everyone.