Great White Shark

 

These shots were taken about four hours ago - on Three Mile Reef at Mindarie, north of Perth. My heart and breathing rates have never been higher!! Visibility was only about 10 metres and the shark was around 3.5 - 4 metres long, more than twice my body length! It circled us for 6 - 7 minutes and came as close as two metres. I didn't manage to get close up shots as I was getting ready to defend myself, but my dive buddy, Carol, managed to get shots 3 and 4 as the beast passed beside us. Great Whites, according to the local books are infrequently found in coastal waters so I suppose I was lucky? to see this one.

Western Rock Cod

This shot was taken at Billy's Basin, a dive site off Mindarie north of Perth. The water was quite murky but this fish was in a sheltered spot under the reef. The Western Rock Cod is very well camouflaged, difficult to spot and it's spines are very venomous, so we always treat them with respect!!

Stars and Stripes Pufferfish

This shot was taken at a dive site, known locally as Coral Gardens, off Mindarie Marina north of Perth. The Stars and Stripes Pufferfish or Toadfish is fairly uncommon as far south as Perth. The local waters seem to be becoming warmer in recent years and this has brought some unusual more exotic species on to our dive sites.

Harlequin Fish - Dark Brown Colour Variation

This shot of a Harlequin Fish was taken yesterday at a dive site called Gordons Grotto off Mindarie Marine north of Perth. This is my third post of this species, the previous two showing a bright red and an orange coloured variety.

Grey Nurse Shark

This shot was taken yesterday during a dive in the main Aquarium Tank at AQWA - the Aquarium of Western Australia at Hillarys Marina in Perth Western Australia. Conditions in the ocean have been poor due to lack of visibility so I went for a dive with the sharks in the aquarium. This shot is of a 3.5 metre female Grey Nurse Shark as she passed within a metre of me.

Bottlenose Dolphins at the Abrolhos Islands

One of the additional benefits of boat diving is the chance to see a variety of creatures on the way to and from the dive sites. On this occasion we had a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphins playing in and around the bow wave of the boat. An absolute delight to watch.

Yellow - Western Red Scorpioncod!!

This shot was taken by my dive buddy Carol Lawton during a dive we did last Saturday morning at the Coral Gardens dive site off Mindarie Marina north of Perth. The second shot is a repost of an earlier photo showing the more normal colouring for this fish. The Scorpioncod varies in colour according to how deep they are found but none of the literature mentions a completely yellow version. The Scorpioncod is very venomous and should not be handled. If anyone has experience of this colouring I would be keen to hear from you.