Dive report - West Side 8 August 2009

We had a fabulous day even before we got out on the water today.  As we drove from Exmouth townsite around the Cape to Tantabiddi to get on the boat we saw an enormous wedge tail eagle dive down over the bush.  A split second later two kangaroos burst from their shady spot and the eagle chased them for miles.  These weren't baby kangaroos either, they were full sized adults.  Amazing experience - wish we'd had the cameras rolling!

The Ningaloo Reef gave us plenty of awesomeness, too. We dived at False Passage first up and had sharks, rays, turtles, big schools of surgeonfish & convict tangs and barracuda shadowing us. A very well camouflaged wobbegong shark was resting at the top of a ridge and didn't seem to mind the little blennies resting right next to his eyeballs.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 16m

Central Station was popping today. Mantas, big cod, huge rays, turtles, masses of parrotfish, crazy anemeonefish and showy octopus were just some of the highlights. It was one of those dives where every square inch of the reef is active and you don't even want to blink in case you miss something cool!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m

The humpback whales were loud again today - we had whale song through both dives. Sometimes it was so loud you could swear the whales were right above you! We also saw lots of blows along the reef as we traveled to each dive site. A stunning day to be in Exmouth, Western Australia!