Caves at Gordon's Grotto - Mindarie, Western Australia

These shots were taken on 25th April 2012 at a dive site called Gordon's Grotto off Mindarie Marina, which is north of Perth in Western Australia.

Mosaic Leatherjacket (Female)

This shot was captured yesterday on my dive at the Coral Gardens dive site off Mindarie Marina north of Perth. These leatherjackets are quite common on this reef system and I was lucky to get this close-up.

Giant Australian Cuttlefish

This sequence of shots was taken this morning at a dive site called Coral Gardens off the coast at Mindarie Marina north of Perth. It shows a large Cuttlefish with a meal in its tentacles and the sequence was taken over a two minute period. It's interesting how quickly the colours change! This particular Cuttlefish was around 60cm in length.

Common Scalyfin - Juvenile

The Common Scalyfin is as the name suggests, very common around Perth and they are dull brown coloured and relatively uninteresting. They are very territorial and will defend their 'patch' by swimming at divers, making popping noises and nipping at wetsuits. The young of the species are quite brightly coloured and timid and this one is hiding behind a small Sea Squirt. They gradually lose their colour as the get older ending up as dark brown.

White-Barred Boxfish (Juvenile)

This juvenile White-Barred Boxfish was swimming with a Common Bullseye when I captured this shot at the Coral Garden dive site off Mindarie Marina north of Perth. The colour of the Boxfish changes to a dramatic bright orange with white markings when they mature. They are fairly common on this reef system and have a strange swimming style, being propelled by the fins which are just in front of the tail.

Western King Wrasse

Another shot from a recent dive at 23 Metre Ledge off Mindarie Marina north of Perth. The Western King Wrasse is very common but quite timid and difficult to photograph. This one is a male, but I posted a female on 11th February 2012 which shows the difference in markings.

Western Blue Devil

The ubiquitous Western Blue Devil is seen on almost every local dive in the waters around Perth in Western Australia. Although seen constantly by divers they are largely unknown to non-divers as they are rarely caught by fishermen and their habit of sitting quietly in caves or under ledges means that they are not easily spotted from above the surface.

Western Australian Jewfish

This shot is from 23 Metre Ledge off Mindarie Marina north of Perth and was taken on 29th March 2012. The Jewfish is relatively common in this area but most fish we see nowadays are juveniles like this one.The Jewfish is probably the most prized table fish in Western Australia and because of this, the larger fish are quite uncommon. Fish between 10 and 20 kilos were commonplace at one time but now are rarely seen.

Gold-Spotted Sweetlips

The Gold-spotted Sweetlips is fairly uncommon, but this shot was captured on my last dive on 29th April 2012 at the 23 Metre Ledge off Mindarie north of Perth. The golden spots become more prolific as the fish ages. This fish was quite timid so I was lucky to get such a close look at it.