Rough Leatherjacket - Juvenile

This cute little guy was photographed on last weeks dive at Rockingham (WA) Wreck Trail. He was hiding behind the rope and I had to swim around a couple of times to get the shot. The rope behind, is tied off to each of the wrecks on the site to enable easy navigation around the site in the normally poor visibility.

Nudibranch - Chromodoris Reticulata (I think!)

This shot was taken while diving on the Rockingham (WA) Wreck Trail last week. My first dive on this site and I don't know why I haven't done it sooner. The site has two small aeroplanes and two small boats together with a reef of old tyres and a 'Chook Pen', (Chicken House), all sunk close to the beach and connected by ropes to make navigating the site easy. I was lucky to get 5 - 10 metres visibility, it's normally less due to the silty bottom. The maximum depth is 18 metres.
This Nudibranch is one of the larger ones I come across, about 3 inches, and its colour and markings were excellent.

Pygmy Seahorse

 I didn't actually see this little critter with the naked eye - it's only half a centimetre tall and my eyes are not that good underwater!! However, it was pointed out by our guide at Menjangan Island off  the NW coast of Bali and I was lucky enough to capture it in the camera. It just looks like a little pink piece of fan coral but is given away by its little tail hanging on. You may need to zoom in to see it!!

Black Tipped Reef Shark

I was lucky to capture this shot as this was one of only three sharks we saw on our week diving around Menjangan Island of the NW coast of Bali in Indonesia. These sharks seemed quite timid and cruised past when we were in deeper water. This one was under two metres long.

Orange Spotted Trevally

This shot was taken at the Coral Gardens dive site off Menjangan Island in North West Bali, Indonesia last week. The Orange Spotted Trevally,  sometimes known as the Gold Spotted Trevally is fairly common from the Red Sea to Japan in tropical waters. This is the first time I have seen this species but this one followed me for several minutes.

Leaf Scorpionfish

This shot was taken last week on a reef at Menjangan Island off the northwest coast of Bali in Indonesia. This is the first of a series of posts I will make over the next few days and will show a small sample of the life on the reefs around the island. I was there for a week and did a total of 15 dives around the island. The name Menjangan means deer in Indonesian because of the deer who swim to the island periodically. The island lies close to Bali and just across the strait from Java.

Smooth Stingray

 

 These shots were taken while I was snorkelling after a dive at Rottnest Island off the coast at Fremantle, Western Australia. The water was around 6 - 7 metres deep and the Stingray was almost two metres across. These rays can reach four metres across and weigh up to 400Kg. This one had part of the front edge of it's lower wing missing and was extremely scratched on its back. It must have had a few encounters with predators in the past - but it seemed very content now. Diving around Rottnest is fantastic with abundant fish life and a limestone reef system all around. There are numerous caves of varying size and complexity and I was diving with two friends using the bare minimum of gear and very small tanks. No wetsuits or BCD's and little weight! The dives were short but but spectacular and mostly at the west end of the island.

The Author on the Gemini Wreck!

This shot was taken by my buddy Carol while we were on the wreck of the Gemini off Mindarie on
31st  December 2012. The conditions were ideal!!!!!

Circular Stingaree

The Circular Stingaree is fairly rare in the Waters off Perth and I was lucky to find this one, my first, amongst the rocks under the reef at Coral Gardens, a dive site off Mindarie Marina, a few kilometers to the north of Perth. The pattern of spots on this fish are what make it easy to identify and it has a venomous barb on the top surface of its tail.

Sergeant Baker (Male)

The shot was taken on the Gemini dive wreck on 31 December 12, which is described two posts ago. This species is very common on the reefs around Perth in Western Australia and are often caught by fishermen, but they are not good eating.  This is a typical pose - they lie on the bottom looking very alert, as if on sentry duty! The elongated dorsal fin ray is indicative of an adult male.

Octopus

This cute little Octopus was hiding in a hollow on the upper surface of the wreck of the Gemini, which is described in my previous post. It seemed quite unperturbed by my presence and having a camera stuck in its face!!

Gemini Wreck - Off Mindarie Marina Western Australia

The Gemini was sunk by dive enthusiasts  in 1993 as a dive wreck and it is located on a flat sandy bottom about ten kilometers NW of Mindarie Marina, north of Perth in Western Australia. The wreck is an old barge about 40 metres by 10 metres and it lies 32 metres deep. It is also popular among local fishermen as it is often surrounded by a variety of fairly large fish including Dhufish and Samson Fish. The shots below were taken on 31st December 2012 and they give a fairly good impression on what can be seen. My previous posts of Lionfish were taken on that day and I will post a couple more shots of specific species.

Red Firefish or Lionfish

These shots were taken yesterday on the wreck of the Gemini, an old barge that was sunk as a dive wreck, around 9.5Km NW of Mindarie Marina in 1993. The wreck lies on a sandy bottom, 30 metres deep, and is around 40 metres long and 10 metres wide. It is covered in soft corals and has an abundance of fish life on and around it. These two Lionfish were quietly swimming around on the top of the wreck and they appeared to be feeding, as one of them suddenly darted down and snapped something up. The dorsal fin spines are extremely venomous so care mast be take when close to them.