As we headed back to shore, we got to watch a big band of red dust swoop up into a towering pillar - it was very cool and definitely not something we get to see every day!
Showing posts with label Exmouth Gulf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exmouth Gulf. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Awesome pillar of red dust over Exmouth
We are having beautiful & hot days lately and so a couple of us headed off for a bit of a snorkel in Exmouth Gulf after work today.
As we headed back to shore, we got to watch a big band of red dust swoop up into a towering pillar - it was very cool and definitely not something we get to see every day!
As we headed back to shore, we got to watch a big band of red dust swoop up into a towering pillar - it was very cool and definitely not something we get to see every day!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay Wednesday 31 March, 2010
We headed into Lighthouse Bay today for a couple of dives and then came back into Exmouth Gulf for an awesome, long drift dive through Bundegi Sanctuary.
Blizzard Ridge never disappoints and today we had lots of good sized schools of fish hanging out all along the site, even in areas where we usually don't see schools. An enormous black bull ray was napping on the sand with his head tucked up under a ledge while small bright blue & green parrotfish munched on the coral right above him. Many red & white striped cleaner shrimp were sitting on the edge of their lairs, flicking their long white antennae trying to attract some customers. The fish life today was, once again, superb with too many and too many species to count!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's cornered the market on white tip reef sharks. They were lazing in the sand, swimming slow circuits around coral outcrops and tucked up under ledges getting away from it all. Every cleaning station had a big rankin cod with a gaping mouth and flared fins as cleaner wrasse darted in and out. There seem to be more anemonefish in a couple of the big anemone patches today, too. Fish, eels, shrimp, nudibranchs, more fish, a small turtle...great dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Bundegi Sanctuary had a nice current for our drift snorkel and it seemed like everyone was out to play: trevally, barracuda, barramundi cod, parrotfish, surgeonfish, big angelfish, turtles, blue spotted stingrays, schools of damsels, anthias & convicts. Fabulous!
Blizzard Ridge never disappoints and today we had lots of good sized schools of fish hanging out all along the site, even in areas where we usually don't see schools. An enormous black bull ray was napping on the sand with his head tucked up under a ledge while small bright blue & green parrotfish munched on the coral right above him. Many red & white striped cleaner shrimp were sitting on the edge of their lairs, flicking their long white antennae trying to attract some customers. The fish life today was, once again, superb with too many and too many species to count!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's cornered the market on white tip reef sharks. They were lazing in the sand, swimming slow circuits around coral outcrops and tucked up under ledges getting away from it all. Every cleaning station had a big rankin cod with a gaping mouth and flared fins as cleaner wrasse darted in and out. There seem to be more anemonefish in a couple of the big anemone patches today, too. Fish, eels, shrimp, nudibranchs, more fish, a small turtle...great dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Bundegi Sanctuary had a nice current for our drift snorkel and it seemed like everyone was out to play: trevally, barracuda, barramundi cod, parrotfish, surgeonfish, big angelfish, turtles, blue spotted stingrays, schools of damsels, anthias & convicts. Fabulous!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Exmouth Diving report - Sponge Gardens Exmouth Gulf Tuesday 30 March 2010
It's been too long since we hit the amazing Sponge Gardens in Exmouth Gulf! Today we had a brisk current whisking us on our drift dive over stunning ground. Huge barrel sponges, sea fans bigger than two divers, sea whips, bursts of brightly coloured soft corals springing from small reef outcrops - it's scenery not found anywhere else on the Ningaloo Reef. The fish life is abundant and we had small groups of perch and snapper trailing along with us for much of the dive. Coral trout, blue bone, barracuda and trevally. The Gulf is also home to mutantly large angelfish - the 6 banded angels are easily twice the size of their reef dwelling relatives. It's awesome!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: strong (it's a drift dive!)
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 25m
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: strong (it's a drift dive!)
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 25m
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Exmouth Diving report - Friday 29 January 2010
Bundegi rocks! The sea breeze came in strong and early today so instead of heading around the top of the Cape to Lighthouse Bay we did two dives in the Bundegi Sanctuary Zone.
Bundegi Bommies was first up during slack tide and it was amazing. There were so many "best sightings" that it's hard to choose just one, but after a bit of an impromptu vote, we decided it had to be the 6+ foot dusky whaler cruising around! Green turtles were abundant, trevally were schooling, Spanish Mackerel were buzzing in for a closer look. Millions of colours lit up the reef from the soft corals, to nudibranchs, to damsels & butterflyfish, to gorgeous parrotfish. Blue spotted sting rays were creating huge sand storms trying to find morsels as monocle bream hovered ready to snatch tidbits from the mess. Creatures and critters galore!!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
We knew the tide would start moving for dive two, so we decided to make the most of it and do this as a Bundegi Drift dive. The current was very mild at the beginning and picked up to a moderate pace at the end of the dive - just perfect. White tip reef sharks, more turtles, firefish, egg cowries, nudibranchs laying egg spirals, coral trout, moray eels...so much to see. Best sight of this dive was a baby barramundi cod - so cute with his little black polka-dots and wavy fins!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: mild, increasing to just moderate
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Bundegi Bommies was first up during slack tide and it was amazing. There were so many "best sightings" that it's hard to choose just one, but after a bit of an impromptu vote, we decided it had to be the 6+ foot dusky whaler cruising around! Green turtles were abundant, trevally were schooling, Spanish Mackerel were buzzing in for a closer look. Millions of colours lit up the reef from the soft corals, to nudibranchs, to damsels & butterflyfish, to gorgeous parrotfish. Blue spotted sting rays were creating huge sand storms trying to find morsels as monocle bream hovered ready to snatch tidbits from the mess. Creatures and critters galore!!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
We knew the tide would start moving for dive two, so we decided to make the most of it and do this as a Bundegi Drift dive. The current was very mild at the beginning and picked up to a moderate pace at the end of the dive - just perfect. White tip reef sharks, more turtles, firefish, egg cowries, nudibranchs laying egg spirals, coral trout, moray eels...so much to see. Best sight of this dive was a baby barramundi cod - so cute with his little black polka-dots and wavy fins!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: mild, increasing to just moderate
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Trip report - Sunset Humpback Cruise Thursday 17 September 2009
Exmouth Gulf was gorgeous this afternoon and early evening as we cruised out of the marina to look for humpback whales. We had barely cleared the heads when we saw our first whales cavorting off in the distance. As we drove closer to them, we also got to see several whales lazily swimming along near the surface, the spray from their exhaled breath hanging in the still air.
We spent a while with a few different mellow whales, watched several different calves breach repeatedly and observed a couple of small groups of whales circling each other & doing mini-spy hops. Then we started a leisurely cuise back towards the marina. Not long into our return journey we had a big manta ray feeding at the surface so we stopped to watch it swim in a straight line one way, then gracefully flip over and swim back along the same line.
Right after the manta ray we were joined by two humpback whales who seemed curious about us. They came right to the boat, swam under us, swam around us, spy hopped, slapped their pectoral fins on the water, spy hopped some more, took big loud breaths not 5m from the boat and generally kept us glued in place for about half an hour! They caused us to stay out a little longer than we expected but what a fantastic way to end the tour!
We spent a while with a few different mellow whales, watched several different calves breach repeatedly and observed a couple of small groups of whales circling each other & doing mini-spy hops. Then we started a leisurely cuise back towards the marina. Not long into our return journey we had a big manta ray feeding at the surface so we stopped to watch it swim in a straight line one way, then gracefully flip over and swim back along the same line.
Right after the manta ray we were joined by two humpback whales who seemed curious about us. They came right to the boat, swam under us, swam around us, spy hopped, slapped their pectoral fins on the water, spy hopped some more, took big loud breaths not 5m from the boat and generally kept us glued in place for about half an hour! They caused us to stay out a little longer than we expected but what a fantastic way to end the tour!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
NEWS: Dead humpback whale in Exmouth Gulf
A few days ago an adult humpback whale was found floundering just off the inter-tidal zone in the Bundegi Sanctuary in Exmouth Gulf. The whale was clearly in distress and not doing very well so it came as no surprise when yesterday's news of its death reached us.
The humpback has ended up right up in the shallows that are dry during low tides. DEC has decided to leave the whale carcass there for nature to dispose of over time.
Already the predators are making their presence felt and all people are advised not to enter the water near the whale. Several 2.5m+ tiger sharks, along with a variety of other species of shark, have been seen feeding. Sharks can feed in extremely shallow water so everyone needs to be aware that approaching the whale when there is any water at all is potentially dangerous. You can see some of the damage already done to the whale by predators (down the side and underneath) along with the blistered skin from being stranded in the sun (along the top)
DEC has closed the moorings in Bundegi Sanctuary for the next six weeks. This will not effect our diving plans as we do not usually access the area for diving at this time of year. All of our diving sites in Lighthouse Bay, VLF Bay, the Muiron Islands and further south along the coast are still accessible and not considered to have any increased risk.
The humpback has ended up right up in the shallows that are dry during low tides. DEC has decided to leave the whale carcass there for nature to dispose of over time.
Already the predators are making their presence felt and all people are advised not to enter the water near the whale. Several 2.5m+ tiger sharks, along with a variety of other species of shark, have been seen feeding. Sharks can feed in extremely shallow water so everyone needs to be aware that approaching the whale when there is any water at all is potentially dangerous. You can see some of the damage already done to the whale by predators (down the side and underneath) along with the blistered skin from being stranded in the sun (along the top)
DEC has closed the moorings in Bundegi Sanctuary for the next six weeks. This will not effect our diving plans as we do not usually access the area for diving at this time of year. All of our diving sites in Lighthouse Bay, VLF Bay, the Muiron Islands and further south along the coast are still accessible and not considered to have any increased risk.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
NEWS - New tour for humpback whale watching!
We started our brand new Sunset Cruise here in Exmouth yesterday and we couldn't have asked for nicer people, better conditions or more humpback whales.
Our new tour meets at Exmouth Diving Centre at 3:30pm and takes you on a relaxing cruise up Exmouth Gulf as we watch the humpback whales, keep an eye out for dolphins, enjoy the pretty sailboats practicing close to shore and just generally enjoy the stunning evenings this time of year brings us on the Ningaloo Reef.
We provide light snacks, cool & hot beverages and the best crew anywhere to take care of everything you need. You are welcome to bring your own refreshments, too, and an esky with ample ice is provided!
We are back usually between 6-6:30pm so we get to enjoy the light changing in the sky over the Cape Ranges before coming back to shore. It's a wonderful way to end the day and is suitable for all ages.
Many thanks to Sharon Richards for this lovely whale tail wave from last night's tour!
Our new tour meets at Exmouth Diving Centre at 3:30pm and takes you on a relaxing cruise up Exmouth Gulf as we watch the humpback whales, keep an eye out for dolphins, enjoy the pretty sailboats practicing close to shore and just generally enjoy the stunning evenings this time of year brings us on the Ningaloo Reef.
We provide light snacks, cool & hot beverages and the best crew anywhere to take care of everything you need. You are welcome to bring your own refreshments, too, and an esky with ample ice is provided!
We are back usually between 6-6:30pm so we get to enjoy the light changing in the sky over the Cape Ranges before coming back to shore. It's a wonderful way to end the day and is suitable for all ages.
Many thanks to Sharon Richards for this lovely whale tail wave from last night's tour!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Dive report - Exmouth Gulf Sunday 28 June 2009
Friday's dive rocked so much we just couldn't stay away so headed back to Bundegi Bommies today. Conditions were very good again and the fish life was crazy!
Big schools of sweetlips, threadfin pearl perch, snapper, fusiliers, goatfish...they were under ledges, between bommies, on top of coralheads and hanging in the blue. Juveniles were also abundant from the teeniest baby angelfish to packs of red & yellow goatfish to shining silver streaks of fusiliers swimming a million miles an hour to the next outcrop - it was like Creche Gone Wild!
A couple of olive sea snakes, a wobbegong shark and a few turtles added some big guy stuff but our best sight of the day was...
...
...a dugong!! At first he was just a big shadow, then the tail fluke came into view as we swam to get closer and then the dugong turned so we got a lovely side view of his cute smile! We could hear squeaking and whistling through most of the dive so it was a real treat to get to see the source.
WATER TEMP: 21-22C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Big schools of sweetlips, threadfin pearl perch, snapper, fusiliers, goatfish...they were under ledges, between bommies, on top of coralheads and hanging in the blue. Juveniles were also abundant from the teeniest baby angelfish to packs of red & yellow goatfish to shining silver streaks of fusiliers swimming a million miles an hour to the next outcrop - it was like Creche Gone Wild!
A couple of olive sea snakes, a wobbegong shark and a few turtles added some big guy stuff but our best sight of the day was...
...
...a dugong!! At first he was just a big shadow, then the tail fluke came into view as we swam to get closer and then the dugong turned so we got a lovely side view of his cute smile! We could hear squeaking and whistling through most of the dive so it was a real treat to get to see the source.
WATER TEMP: 21-22C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Dive report - Exmouth Gulf Friday 26 June 2009
Bundegi Bommies were calling to us to come visit for a nice long dive so we obliged yesterday for the first time in over a month. Conditions couldn't have been nicer above or below...except the temperature could have been a little bit higher! The Gulf is colder than our other sites in winter and warmer in summer...it's amazing how dramatically different a couple of degrees can be.
There was so much on this site that I don't know where to start! An enormous bull ray - wing span easily 6 feet - was nosed under one of the big bommies and was completely disinterested in us. He stayed there for almost the entire dive, only swimming off when one of the plentiful olive sea snakes came down and started bothering him! He swam off with the sea snake riding right along on his back.
Speaking of olive sea snakes, they were mating today! Zooming around, twisting and curling their bodies together, rolling through the water - the action was fast and furious. I'm not sure the female was nearly as interested in the male as after taking him on a merry chase, she zipped out from under a ledge and left him confused and wondering where she'd gone. He then swam out from under the ledge and straight into the side of my buddy's fin. Hilarious!
Lots of colourful nudibranchs, fish of all shapes, sizes and colours, wobbegong sharks, moray eels, bright soft corals feeding, pretty batfish waiting for us on the mooring line - fabulous dive!
WATER TEMP: 21-22C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none; started to pick up as we were ascending
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Normally we try to add a photo showing something we haven't actually mentioned, but the sea snakes were just too cool not to share.
There was so much on this site that I don't know where to start! An enormous bull ray - wing span easily 6 feet - was nosed under one of the big bommies and was completely disinterested in us. He stayed there for almost the entire dive, only swimming off when one of the plentiful olive sea snakes came down and started bothering him! He swam off with the sea snake riding right along on his back.
Speaking of olive sea snakes, they were mating today! Zooming around, twisting and curling their bodies together, rolling through the water - the action was fast and furious. I'm not sure the female was nearly as interested in the male as after taking him on a merry chase, she zipped out from under a ledge and left him confused and wondering where she'd gone. He then swam out from under the ledge and straight into the side of my buddy's fin. Hilarious!
Lots of colourful nudibranchs, fish of all shapes, sizes and colours, wobbegong sharks, moray eels, bright soft corals feeding, pretty batfish waiting for us on the mooring line - fabulous dive!
WATER TEMP: 21-22C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none; started to pick up as we were ascending
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Normally we try to add a photo showing something we haven't actually mentioned, but the sea snakes were just too cool not to share.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Dive report - Exmouth Gulf, Monday 18 May 2009
Today we decided to stay in Exmouth Gulf and explore some areas we haven't visited in a while. Our first stop was Bundegi Bommies. All of the soft corals had their polyps open and wafting, waiting for food to glide by. They would have been waiting a while as there was no current or surge at all today! The bright yellows, reds, pinks, oranges and blues continued in the massive number of nudibranchs that dotted every surface. Lionfish were floating in blue water and bulldozer shrimp were busily cleaning the burrows they share with their goby mates. Fabulous colour and creature dive!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
We moved a little further north for dive two at The Stag. This site is covered in what seems like millions of outcrops of staghorn corals. And every one of the branches seems to hide something special. We saw the teeniest baby coral trout ever - he was probably only as long as your finger! The coral branches provide excellent cover for all manner of juvenile fishes and everywhere we looked we saw the bright colours of juvenile angelfish and butterflyfish. Very cool dive.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
We moved a little further north for dive two at The Stag. This site is covered in what seems like millions of outcrops of staghorn corals. And every one of the branches seems to hide something special. We saw the teeniest baby coral trout ever - he was probably only as long as your finger! The coral branches provide excellent cover for all manner of juvenile fishes and everywhere we looked we saw the bright colours of juvenile angelfish and butterflyfish. Very cool dive.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Friday, April 24, 2009
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Tuesday 21 April 2009
The swell came up dramatically overnight and was still rising, so visibility was much lower than what we've been spoiled with lately. Blizzard Ridge lived up to its name with rolling blankets of sand spilling over the ledges in places but that didn't stop us from having an awesome dive. Seems the fish rise higher into the water column when it gets like this, so there were even more big schools just hanging around. Olive sea snakes were out in force, swimming along the reef ledges, tongues flitting in and out in search of whatever it is sea snakes long for. One of the giant morays was halfway out his hole, face covered in small cleaner shrimp and tiny blue striped cleaner wrasse keeping busy.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 5m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
We decided to find some cleaner water for dive two, so came back around the Cape into Exmouth Gulf for dive two. We hit Clusters and it was an awesome choice. The corals are spectacular with tons of bright reds, oranges and yellows and every sort of strange creature was out and about. Crocodilefish casually hid in the sand, tiny hermit crabs scurried across the reef and eels peeked from ledges. Some of our divers found a very cool, very small catshark tucked into a coral head - not a common sight at all! That find would be great for our current Diver's Bites blog contest (but we bet you've got something just as cool to share with us, so hurry and enter now!)
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 9m
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 5m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
We decided to find some cleaner water for dive two, so came back around the Cape into Exmouth Gulf for dive two. We hit Clusters and it was an awesome choice. The corals are spectacular with tons of bright reds, oranges and yellows and every sort of strange creature was out and about. Crocodilefish casually hid in the sand, tiny hermit crabs scurried across the reef and eels peeked from ledges. Some of our divers found a very cool, very small catshark tucked into a coral head - not a common sight at all! That find would be great for our current Diver's Bites blog contest (but we bet you've got something just as cool to share with us, so hurry and enter now!)
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 9m
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