Aussie Diving November 2012

[bowlofpetunias]

Got a dive in this morning.. it wasn't a brilliant dive but I got wet and got to relax. Didn't find anything earth shattering but took a few pics anyway.

I checked out the White Ear I saw mating a month or so ago. Sure enough he has eggs in his nest

He was guarding the entrance

and prepared to take me on if I got my finger any closer!

 

[bfowles]

The colour of the crinoid is great. What is the fish in the third picture?

I dived on saturday but I haven't had a chance to go through my photos yet.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Thanks bf.. yes the colour of the crinoid was a bit different.. quite pretty. At first glance from a distance it looked a bit like a crown of thornes just they way it was positioned and the colours.

The fish under the ledge is an Eastern Frogfish..locally known as Frogmouth. That is a juvenile. They hang out under ledges and debris... quite shy.
here are another couple shots. One is a baby.. could have sat on a ten cent coin...he was under some debris at one of our Muck dive sites at Balmoral outside the shark nets... the other is at LaPeruse one of the most popular dive sites in Sydney.

 

[bfowles]

That is a very cool looking fish.

I have finally gone through my photos from last week, but I'm not diving this weekend. I have been very busy at work only got home at 9:00am this morning so I will spend the rest of the weekend relaxing.


Amphipod by Byron.Fowles, on Flickr


bobtail-mid-water by Byron.Fowles, on Flickr


Heteroclinus-kuiteri by Byron.Fowles, on Flickr

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Lovely shots. I can't pic a favorite.. they are all excellent shots of kewl critters! Hope you have a nice relaxing weekend then! Our regs are in for service so no diving for us this weekend.. but next......

 

[bfowles]

Thanks, I managed to get a bit of sleep now and I'm feeling much better! Almost forgot to upload this picture.


snapping-shrimp by Byron.Fowles, on Flickr

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Great "catch" those little guys are hard to see never mind get a picture of them!

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Found this dwarf lionfish at Shelly today

pygmy leatherjacket

it swam off on it's side like a flounder or sole

 

[Mantra]

great photos, i like the pygmy pipehorse, and the bobtail squid shot. how big are they fully grown??

i managed to get out for a dive at byron bay last weekend. met up with mantra and his wife finally, and another friend of theirs for a couple of nice dives. the grey nurse sharks are still around, and we saw a few kingfish that were by far the biggest i have ever encountered. all the usual critters were out, some really nice nudis and a mantis shrimp cleaning out his hole.

it was just great to be diving again, however i'm done for at least the next couple of months. with a five week old baby at home and shoulder surgery to recover from, i dont think i will be getting out anytime soon...

Hey all!

It was a massive pleasure to dive with you, Ferris. The girls couldn't stop talking bout how lovely a bloke you were! I'm yet to edit the video together, but have some great footage of you and the sharks and those kingfish - which were big enough to look like sharks!

That dive was pretty much the last one we saw GNS on. They seem to have packed up and left the rocks now for the most part, and the mantas are showing up now. Great diving there yesterday with the best viz I've seen. And the water has gotten warm all of a sudden - a very comfortable 24 deg. On the first dive we got turtles, a few different kinds of rays (including one massive six or seven foot bull ray), octopus, shrimp, etc etc etc - everything was out and about it seemed.

Sorry I've been quiet, all. The end of semester is the busiest time of the year for me, with meetings and marking etc etc etc - so I've not had much time for the forum.

Bowlofpetunias and bfowles, please don't stop spoiling us with your pics. Those are works of art, as usual. Thanks so much for sharing them! That bobtail midwater, and those Pygmy seahorses are wonderful. My wife is going to be the happiest diver ever when she sees one of the latter for the first time - she loves those critters!

 

[Mantra]

So a little vid of the dive on Saturday the 24th:

[video=youtube_share;YKmrAZF-ig8]http://youtu.be/YKmrAZF-ig8[/video]

Still shaky!!!

Stuff seen on this dive / in this video:

00:03 - batfish
00:11 - juvenile wideband anemonefish
00:22 - spotted wobbegong
00:45 - Hayles wobbegong (right), spotted wobbegangs (center and left). The little striped fish to the right of screen is an 'old wife'
so called because of the grating sound they make when stressed.
01:02 - Buddyfish (had a problem with her primary reg partially flooding, hence diving her secondary. Not a usual configuration.)
01:08 - nudibranch (Hypselodoris bennetti? but the rhinophores colour is wrong for that I think?)
01:15 - common stingaree
02:00 - Beauty! 7 foot smooth stingray
02:31 - green turtle
02:46 - scorpionfish (I think not a stonefish).
02:54 - eastern blue groper (fish emblem of NSW)
02:59 - banded cleaner shrimp
03:09 - day octopus
03:18 - batfish again