Central Station was buzzing today! We had a great manta just hanging out, doing a straight line, then banking and repeating in the other direction. The snorkellers saw a few mantas doing the same thing in a single spot, too! We also had a lazy turtle, three sharks, a million octopus and zillions of fish. OK, maybe we exaggerate a teensy bit but the reef was going off today!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Unbelievable how many humpback whales were around today. They were everywhere we went. Most of them were simply cruising north, blowing every now and again, but some were popping their heads out and waving tails around.
We had two awesome whale sharks today. The cutest ever 2.5m little one who was curious and eager to check out what all the fuss was about. We could have just given him a big cuddle and taken him home with us he was so sweet! Our other whale shark was a 6m whale shark who's definitely been eating well - it was bigger around than some of the longer sharks we've seen this season! Again, just amazing to be able to snorkel with these guys.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Diving report - West Side Tuesday 9 June 2009
First up was the Floats and with no surge or current today, everything was hanging in suspended animation. The little groups of sweetlips hung almost motionless at the top of the bommies as we swam past, completely disinterested in the divers. A few turtles pecked at the reef before drifting away to the next peak or ascending for a breath and some sun. Two very cool, if odd looking, barramundi cod played a game of hide and seek with us - they'd peek out, let us get almost close then pop back under their ledge, before reappearing from another exit. I have to admit that the barras won the game! Manta rays cruised along the surface, feeding and taking no notice of the divers & their bubbles. As we came to the surface, two humpback whales were cruising past not 30m from where we were bobbing!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Humpback whales escorted to dive two at Central Station. Manta rays were circling at the cleaning station and a few big mackerel were patrolling just on the edge of vision. A big green turtle was tucked down under a bommie having a snooze while small butterflyfish and cleaner wrasse scrubbed his shell. Eels, shrimps and little crabs were hiding in every hole and outcrop of staghorn coral. We also had pygmy manta rays and "normal" manta rays!! It was a neat dive!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Humpback whales escorted to dive two at Central Station. Manta rays were circling at the cleaning station and a few big mackerel were patrolling just on the edge of vision. A big green turtle was tucked down under a bommie having a snooze while small butterflyfish and cleaner wrasse scrubbed his shell. Eels, shrimps and little crabs were hiding in every hole and outcrop of staghorn coral. We also had pygmy manta rays and "normal" manta rays!! It was a neat dive!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Whale Shark report - Tuesday 9 June 2009
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! No wait, that's wrong! It should be...
Whale sharks and manta rays and humpback whales and turtles and dolphins, oh YEAH!
Yes, another fabulous day out on our Whale Shark Adventure with multiple whale sharks checking us out and spending lots and lots of time just cruising along next to us. We also had the pleasure of snorkeling with manta rays and watching humpback whales journey up the coast, some coming in pretty close to the boat for a peek!
We dived at Wobby's Wall and saw just everything: trevally, barracuda, big cod, little cod, anemeonefish, turtles, rays, parrotfish...excellent dive with just so much to see everywhere!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
Whale sharks and manta rays and humpback whales and turtles and dolphins, oh YEAH!
Yes, another fabulous day out on our Whale Shark Adventure with multiple whale sharks checking us out and spending lots and lots of time just cruising along next to us. We also had the pleasure of snorkeling with manta rays and watching humpback whales journey up the coast, some coming in pretty close to the boat for a peek!
We dived at Wobby's Wall and saw just everything: trevally, barracuda, big cod, little cod, anemeonefish, turtles, rays, parrotfish...excellent dive with just so much to see everywhere!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
Friday, June 12, 2009
Whale Shark report - Monday 8 June 2009
Stellar day with out of this world clear conditions everywhere we went!
It was another multiple whale shark day today on our Whale Shark Adventure here in Exmouth including another fantastic unique encounter! Our first whale shark was a big boy coming it at about 8m. He was huge - really wide and really rotund.
As we were swimming with one whale shark, a second whale shark came up behind the snorkellers! The second shark rocked back and forth, swam straight for the first whale shark as we all scrambled to get out of the way, and then they both kind of circled us for a bit until the second one veered casually to the right and simply wandered off into the blue! Breathtaking!
Our last whale shark of the day was another big one and he was very content to just slowly meander along. He was extremely easy to keep up with and let us stay with him for ages.
We ended our day with a dive at Coral Island. This is another of our new sites this season (see Cam's Canyon from Sunday 7 June) and it's filled with all manner of fishes & marine creatures. We had turtles, rays, sharks, schooling fish, baitfish, angelfish...it was a very active site and the hard coral formations are incredible, too.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
It was another multiple whale shark day today on our Whale Shark Adventure here in Exmouth including another fantastic unique encounter! Our first whale shark was a big boy coming it at about 8m. He was huge - really wide and really rotund.
As we were swimming with one whale shark, a second whale shark came up behind the snorkellers! The second shark rocked back and forth, swam straight for the first whale shark as we all scrambled to get out of the way, and then they both kind of circled us for a bit until the second one veered casually to the right and simply wandered off into the blue! Breathtaking!
Our last whale shark of the day was another big one and he was very content to just slowly meander along. He was extremely easy to keep up with and let us stay with him for ages.
We ended our day with a dive at Coral Island. This is another of our new sites this season (see Cam's Canyon from Sunday 7 June) and it's filled with all manner of fishes & marine creatures. We had turtles, rays, sharks, schooling fish, baitfish, angelfish...it was a very active site and the hard coral formations are incredible, too.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Diving report - West Side Monday 8 June 2009
Beverly Hills was crazy with action today again. Numerous cod were in fighter plane attack mode and dive bombing the big school of baitfish over and over again. Sparkly remnants from their frenzied feeding made you feel like there was a disco ball hanging over the site. The wobbegong sharks were much more mellow - three of them were hunkered down in the same hole together. A lovely variety of reef and pelagic fish covered the whole area. It was a bit of visual overload at times!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 22m
Nick's Lumps had lots of hunter action, too. Coral trout and various cod species were checking out their next meal while small schools of trevally and barracuda silently waited for an opportunity while they hung in the blue. A green turtle checked us out and white tip reef sharks ignored us. We also had moblows (pygmy mantas)! These little guys are so amazing - they fly in formation and it's a truly impressive spectacle.
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
On the way back to the mooring, a humpback whale breached THREE times not more than 30m from the back of the boat. WOW!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 22m
Nick's Lumps had lots of hunter action, too. Coral trout and various cod species were checking out their next meal while small schools of trevally and barracuda silently waited for an opportunity while they hung in the blue. A green turtle checked us out and white tip reef sharks ignored us. We also had moblows (pygmy mantas)! These little guys are so amazing - they fly in formation and it's a truly impressive spectacle.
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
On the way back to the mooring, a humpback whale breached THREE times not more than 30m from the back of the boat. WOW!
Diving report - West Side Sunday 7 June 2009
We cannot drag ourselves away from diving on the West Side right now so took our full day tour a little further south for two awesome sites, one brand new!
Milyering Wall is always good and today it was fantastic. Some of the largest coral trout ever were showing off their bright blue spotted orange bodies - blinding in the bright sun & clear waters! Groups of trevally patrolled the edge of the reef and every crevice and swim through was filled with baitfish and small cods. Batfish bobbed up and down along the site. Best sight today? A big group of moblos - pygmy mantas - cruising past! Woohooo!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 26m
We're always looking for more dive sites to add to our repertoire and we found an awesome one with help from one of our pilots - Cam's Canyon. The site is a collection of incredible valleys, lumps, gullies, ledges and other reef structures. It comes all the way up to 5m and the snorkellers had a stunning time, too. The hard corals here are simply outstanding in their variety, size and number. The marine life is outstanding, too. A massive Queensland Grouper, a chunky bronze whaler shark, manta rays, turtles and wobbegong sharks were just some of the biggest creatures on the day. This site has already become a favourite and we can't wait to head back!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 30+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 22m
A large school of manta rays cavorted on the surface as we were cruising the reef - their wings flicking out of the water as they'd bank in steep turns to suck up more of the rich takings from the tide line they were in. Humpback whales were everywhere, their blows creating miniature rainbows. A stunner of a day.
Milyering Wall is always good and today it was fantastic. Some of the largest coral trout ever were showing off their bright blue spotted orange bodies - blinding in the bright sun & clear waters! Groups of trevally patrolled the edge of the reef and every crevice and swim through was filled with baitfish and small cods. Batfish bobbed up and down along the site. Best sight today? A big group of moblos - pygmy mantas - cruising past! Woohooo!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 26m
We're always looking for more dive sites to add to our repertoire and we found an awesome one with help from one of our pilots - Cam's Canyon. The site is a collection of incredible valleys, lumps, gullies, ledges and other reef structures. It comes all the way up to 5m and the snorkellers had a stunning time, too. The hard corals here are simply outstanding in their variety, size and number. The marine life is outstanding, too. A massive Queensland Grouper, a chunky bronze whaler shark, manta rays, turtles and wobbegong sharks were just some of the biggest creatures on the day. This site has already become a favourite and we can't wait to head back!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 30+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 22m
A large school of manta rays cavorted on the surface as we were cruising the reef - their wings flicking out of the water as they'd bank in steep turns to suck up more of the rich takings from the tide line they were in. Humpback whales were everywhere, their blows creating miniature rainbows. A stunner of a day.
Whale Shark report - Saturday 6 June 2009
Another fabulous Whale Shark Adventure here on the Ningaloo Reef! We started with a scuba dive and snorkel at Central Station. All of our expected fishes and marine creatures were waiting to greet us, including more sailfin catfish than we could count. A loggerhead turtle had his eyes half closed in ecstasy as he rubbed his shell back and forth under a ledge and a cool eagle ray was out over the sand. Some of the divers were lucky enough to see the tail end of a very large shark just before it disappeared into the distance.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Snorkelling today was awesome. We got to snorkel with four different whale sharks, including one super big guy coming in at 9m who decided to swim lazy circles around us while we scrambled to keep our distance! We spent a ton of time in the water with whale sharks, half surfing up and down the swells like we were on an amusement park ride.
We also played with a group of 25 manta rays - though we could only keep five or six in sight at any one time it seemed! They are always so cool - very animated and sometimes quite curious. Totally not bothered by those of us who are more uncoordinated than they are - often it looks like they're showing off with their easy movements!
And then there were dolphins playing as we cruised back to the mooring. Fabulous June day!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Snorkelling today was awesome. We got to snorkel with four different whale sharks, including one super big guy coming in at 9m who decided to swim lazy circles around us while we scrambled to keep our distance! We spent a ton of time in the water with whale sharks, half surfing up and down the swells like we were on an amusement park ride.
We also played with a group of 25 manta rays - though we could only keep five or six in sight at any one time it seemed! They are always so cool - very animated and sometimes quite curious. Totally not bothered by those of us who are more uncoordinated than they are - often it looks like they're showing off with their easy movements!
And then there were dolphins playing as we cruised back to the mooring. Fabulous June day!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Dive report - West Side Thursday 4 June 2009
Whoops, how could I miss the report from this day?! We did the Floats first and it was fabulously active again. The two best sights on the day:
1 -a big loggerhead turtle mimicing a rock and then languidly lifting himself up and oh so slowly swimming away.
2 - a grey nurse shark checking out the top of the site!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
Central Station had all of it's usual suspects: turtles, rays, big cods, eels, schools of fish, anemonefish & procelain crabs, parrotfish. We also had a very inquisitive olive sea snake trying to figure out what we were and what we were doing there. A good dive for seeing a lot of different fish, for sure!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
1 -a big loggerhead turtle mimicing a rock and then languidly lifting himself up and oh so slowly swimming away.
2 - a grey nurse shark checking out the top of the site!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
Central Station had all of it's usual suspects: turtles, rays, big cods, eels, schools of fish, anemonefish & procelain crabs, parrotfish. We also had a very inquisitive olive sea snake trying to figure out what we were and what we were doing there. A good dive for seeing a lot of different fish, for sure!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Diving report - West Side Friday 5 June 2009
Boy is the West Side rocking! We're taking advantage of it while we can as some of these sites are only comfortably accessible for a few months each year. Dive one was at the Floats and we didn't know where to look first! Schools of sweetlips hung out at the peak of one of the hills, a big school of surgeonfish tumbled over the side of the hill into one of the canyons before repeating it on the next lump and baitfish choked every nook & cranny. Two top sights today were - a manta ray and an eagle ray that swam by the divers!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Central Station was slightly quieter but there was a terrific variety of creatures along our dive and most of them were content to just hang out with us without swimming away. The cod population here is growing and we couldn't go 10m without seeing more of these big guys. Best sight on this dive - massively huge loggerhead turtle. Hard to believe how big these guys can get!
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Central Station was slightly quieter but there was a terrific variety of creatures along our dive and most of them were content to just hang out with us without swimming away. The cod population here is growing and we couldn't go 10m without seeing more of these big guys. Best sight on this dive - massively huge loggerhead turtle. Hard to believe how big these guys can get!
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Whale Shark report - Friday 5 June 2009
We couldn't resist trying our luck at Central Station for the dive today and we were treated to all the usual suspects plus a couple of very big guys. An enormous bull ray - what are these guys eating this season?! - was laying quietly in the sand. As we watched him, he'd puff a bit more sand over himself or roll his wings a little bit. He was still there when we came back to check over 20 minutes later so clearly he was enjoying his naptime! Another cool sighting was a very large estuary cod. When we first saw him, he was just hanging around, doing a little cicular circuit over the reef. On the way back to the achor line we saw him again and he had his mouth wide open with cleaner wrasse darting up from the reef to have a scrub.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
We had two whale sharks of opposite size today - one enormous 8m+ (some of the crew reckon he was over 9m!) and one small 3.5m whale shark. The smaller one was out wide in pretty deep water and as he'd rise up on the swell he'd almost disappear from view until the swell passed! The big guy was up closer to the reef in shallow water and he stayed with us for a good long time.
Two of our clients - Carlo & Marilena - submitted some of their photos to Ecocean's Whale Shark Photo ID Library and have already been notified that our large whale shark from the tour is a new sighting to these waters! He's now Whale Shark #A-537 and you can see photos from their encounter by clicking. How cool is that?
We also swam with manta rays today again, including one stunning almost all black manta ray. Awesomeness!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
We had two whale sharks of opposite size today - one enormous 8m+ (some of the crew reckon he was over 9m!) and one small 3.5m whale shark. The smaller one was out wide in pretty deep water and as he'd rise up on the swell he'd almost disappear from view until the swell passed! The big guy was up closer to the reef in shallow water and he stayed with us for a good long time.
Two of our clients - Carlo & Marilena - submitted some of their photos to Ecocean's Whale Shark Photo ID Library and have already been notified that our large whale shark from the tour is a new sighting to these waters! He's now Whale Shark #A-537 and you can see photos from their encounter by clicking. How cool is that?
We also swam with manta rays today again, including one stunning almost all black manta ray. Awesomeness!
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