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Published: June 15th 2008
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While Simon was exploring deep, dark wrecks near Sydney, Lauren flew north to Townsville where she met her friend Sabrina (who is studying there this semester). The dynamic duo (of MSC 201 and University of Miami Science Diving) reunited with a bang and had a night out on the town, then got up at 5am to catch a bus to Cairns. Cairns is much more Australian feeling than Sydney, with a relaxed and beachy flair evident even through the rampant tourist industry. From Cairns, Lauren and Sabrina boarded the MV Taka and set out for a long weekend of diving on the Great Barrier Reef’s Ribbon Reefs, Cod Hole, and on the outer reef Osprey.
There were about 20 guests on MV Taka and full crew. The girls stayed in a shared bunk room (cattle class), which was still comfortable and clean. The first night was spent steaming to Cod Hole, then two dives in the morning on Cod Hole where massive potato cod come to feed. These large and curious fish are generally slow and friendly, and will swim up to divers hoping for fishy chow handouts. Lauren’s first impressions of GBR were even better than she had imagined,
Potato Cod
A potato cod (or snapper) just after the feed on Cod Hole with abundant fish and coral, (hundreds of species!) turtles and sharks, crabs and nudibranchs, everywhere!! Unlike the Florida Keys where she had to search for nudibranchs (her favorite little sea slugs) Lauren would find several on a single dive, even when she was distracted by sharks. This is cliché, but it was just like Finding Nemo. MV Taka steamed to Osprey reef the second night, and an entire day was spent diving here. The third day was back on the Ribbon Reefs, and the final day Lauren and Sabrina dove on the inner reef in the morning before packing up and heading back to Cairns (then bussing to Townsville, and flying to Sydney for Lauren). Since this dive trip was extended, MV Taka was able to steam past the frequented day sites and was the only vessel to be seen at any given time. The Ribbon Reefs and Osprey are far enough removed from mainland Aussie to be more pristine, and truly offered the very best of GBR.
Five days, four dives a day, are too many to recount each in specific detail (at least, for you non marine biological nerds! Lauren will happily talk about this all day
Nudis!!
A beautiful nudibranch that Lauren spotted on Pixie's Pinnacle long, just send her a message). It was a wonderful lifestyle; even though Lauren had to get up at the crack of dawn each morning! Dives alternated with hearty meals prepared by the MV Taka chef Rob and naps on the sundeck, including conversations with other guests and dive guides about various animals that had been spotted on the dives. Some highlights:
Osprey Reef: Lauren can honestly say that THIS is what a coral reef should be like. There were no patches of bleached or damaged coral, no regions being overtaken by disease, and the associated biology was amazing. The overall realm compared to original Jacques Costeau images and films. Most of the dives were walls that dropped off, with gray reef sharks and white tips swimming past in the blue on one side and vibrant coral teeming with shrimp, crabs, nudis (all those invertebrates that Lauren gets excited about) on the other. Diving through the sea of life and being dappled by tropical sunlight was an unforgettable experience for Lauren.
Shark Feed at Osprey: It's hard to not enjoy a shark feed, with jaws clashing and sharks left, right, upside down and sideways! They were feeding on
Remoras
Four remoras (shark suckers) attached themselves to Lauren's leg on the first dive at Osprey, and stayed for the entire dive. Their raspy mouths felt quite interesting, but didn't actually hurt at all :) tuna heads on a chain, that went from the surface to a point on the reef. Divers watched from a distance of about 10 meters, as sharks ripped the tuna to shreds and one curious potato cod joined in for the fun. The potato cod stole a tuna head and quickly swam off into his cave, pursued by three sharks! There were about 60-70 white tips and gray reef sharks, and one massive silvertip cruised through a few times! This was Lauren's first shark feed and she loved it, although she would have preferred to feed the sharks herself instead of watching from a distance.
Pixie’s Pinnacle: This dive spot on the ribbon reefs was one of Lauren's favorites of all time. The dive started off with a wobbegong shark!! spotted in a little coral cave. The pinnacle is just that- a spire of coral in blue water. Divers swim around slowly, from depths of 25 to 5 meters. Lauren and Sabrina continued their dive, sharks on one side, coral on the other. They quickly spotted a fire red lionfish alongside a black juvenile lionfish, and stopped for the photo op. Lauren found 5 different kinds of nudibranch here,
Lauren on GBR
Diving with hard and soft corals and reef fish on Osprey so she was happy as a clam. Schools of trevally and fusiliers circled the pinnacle as well, moving in perfect schools, making space for divers as they came through.
Minke Whales: MV Taka is one of the only dive vessels allowed to snorkel with mnke whales. We had a couple of sitings, and on the first Sabrina and Lauren donned mask, fins, and snorkel and slid into open blue water to hang on a line off the back of the ship. We could see the minkes breaching from the surface, and then watched them dive down under the sea. Although they were quite far away, at least 50 meters, it was still an unreal experience to be in the water with these giants.
Giant Clams at Clam Gardens: This site is a simple little sandy area, with a reef flat and little coral bommies scattered about. There were interesting coral caves to explore and the usual array of reef fish and invertebrates, but the main attraction was the MASSIVE clams! There is photo proof, these suckers were much bigger than Lauren and she could have fit inside easily. Apparently they largest are about 60 years old. They can
Amazing Sunsets
Sunset over the open ocean from Osprey Reef, taken at the end of our fourth dive during the swim back to Taka. be found wedged into giant coral heads, or just living freely on the sand. The older clams shells' have become a bit of a reef within a reef, crusted with sponges, gorgonians, corals, and smaller bivalves. The coloration of these clams was extraordinary, in all shades of blue, purple, and green. No two were quite alike, although some patterns recurred. Most had a mantle of one dominant color, flecked with neon streaks of other colors. The tiny ones (smaller than Lauren's hand) would close completely when they detected a diver, but the larger clams just retracted their mantle a bit, apparently they're realized that they are really too big to have many threats. The surrounding coral gardens were serene, almost as if that entire reef existed to protect these giants.
Sunsets on the open ocean 😊 There is no feeling comparable to standing on the top deck of a ship and seeing nothing but deep blue ocean in every direction. Our weather was sunny and beautiful, but during the afternoon we could see squalls build up towards the land that made for beautiful sunsets. On Osprey the captain turned off the ship lights at Lauren's request, and the sky
Shark Feed
White tip and gray reef sharks circling just before the tuna heads were released for the shark feed (Tuna heads are in garbage can). glistened with stars, the Southern Cross pointing south and the Big Dipper pointing north.
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Ali Perkins
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I love the Great Barrier Reef!
Thanks for the post Lauren! Brings back such wonderful memories of when Cameron and I did this same trip with Taka back in January 2007. Osprey Reef is just awesome. Worth all the hype I've ever heard on the Great Barrier Reef!