Banded Cleaner Shrimp

These shrimps live under ledges on the reefs and get their name from the red and white bands on their bodies and the fact that they clean parasites and dead tissue from the body and gills of larger fish.

Lionfish at the Abroholos Islands

These shots were taken during a trip to the Abroholos Island which are 60 Km off the coast at Geraldton, about 400 km north of Perth. The islands are famous for the wreck of the Batavia which foundered on the reefs surrounding the islands in 1629. The wreck lies at 6 metres and is a good snorkel with anchors and canon clearly visible. The remains of the hull were recovered and are in Fremantle Maritime Museum.

The Lionfish is highly poisonous but is very solitary and slow moving so does not pose a threat to divers. Quite spectacular when you come across them.

Busy Ascent!!

This shot was taken at the end of a dive on the wreck of the Key Biscayne off Lancelin just north of Perth. The wreck is an oil drilling rig which was being towed to Fremantle for repair in 1983 and was caught in bad weather and sank. It sits at 42 metres and is probably the best of the local wrecks because of it's size and condition. It can get quite busy on the descent line at the end of a dive as the bottom time is relatively short and everyone finishes around the same time. The site is 10 miles off the coast and very exposed with a fierce current running most days.

Scorpion Cod on Three Mile Reef - 17 July 2011

The first fish is around 20cm in length and was in a small cave at a depth of 22 metres. The Scorpion Cod has poisonous spines and they normally lie quite still and camouflaged on the bottom. The second shot was captured at the Abroholos Islands and shows a much larger fish.

Turtle at Sipidan - May 2010

 

Sipidan is an Island off the east coast of Sabah (Borneo). The island is only about 1Km across and is surrounded by beautiful coral reefs. The ocean bottom is over 200 metres below and most of the diving is done in the top 30 metres. There are a huge variety of fish species in these protected waters and turtles are very common on every dive.

Grey Shark at Sipidan - May 2010

 

There are many sharks around Sipidan and most are White of Black Tipped Reef Sharks. This shark was a bit larger than the others, about 2.5 metres and was swimming down and out from the reef when I followed and managed to get this shot.

Soft Corals on Three Mile Reef - 17 July 2011

This scene is typical of Three Mile Reef off the northern shores around Perth. The reef is limestone and covered in soft corals. This shot was taken at about 25 metres.

Friendly Cuttlfish Three Mile Reef - 9 July 2011

 

 This Cuttlefish was extremely friendly and followed my buddy and I around for about 20 minutes. It was very interested in us and became more and more inquisitive while constantly changing colour.