Page 74 - AlertDiver_Spring2013

72 | SPRING 2013
cheap, aerial photography
tours of the Great Barrier Reef
via helicopter make for valued
additions to a Cairns image
portfolio.
The excursion I enjoyed
most was a hot air balloon ride
over the nearby countryside,
even if it did involve a decidedly uncivilized 4:30 a.m. pickup from
the hotel. Arriving before sunrise allowed us to see the balloons
in the dark, transilluminated by the inflation flames. Having been
thoroughly briefed by the DVD on the bus ride to the launch site,
we climbed into our gondola, and four balloons lifted off nearly
simultaneously. Ballooning is a very quiet means of aviation,
except when the fuel jets are running. While the equipment was
all very safe and high tech, there was something timeless about
drifting wherever the wind took us; the only means of control
was altitude adjustment, which allowed us to take advantage
of varying prevailing winds. We had a 30-minute balloon ride,
which seemed long enough, and after a hot breakfast complete
with champagne, we were back at the hotel by 10 a.m.
Potato Cods and More
Years ago I was on a white shark expedition in South Australia
with legendary Australian photo team Ron and Valerie Taylor.
I recall Valerie reminiscing about how she and Ron were
champion spearfishers at one point in their lives, but they were
never blind to the beauty of marine life, which made their
transition to filmmaking a natural one. They were appalled to
see Australia’s friendly potato cod being speared nearly to the
point of extinction, so Valerie launched a campaign to save the
species, finally convincing the government to protect it. Now
the Cod Hole, at Ribbon Reef No. 10, is one of the most famous
dives in Queensland and a tribute to conservation.
The Cod Hole is a lovely coral amphitheater in 20 to 60
feet of water with delicate staghorn and antler corals as well
as massive boulder corals. The marine life is impressive,
with schools of bannerfish, surgeonfish and several species
of grouper in residence. But without a doubt, the stars of the
show are the potato cod. They are clearly conditioned to being
fed and appeared directly under the boat as we jumped in.
We easily achieved fish portraits and even close-focus, wide-
angle shots of these groupers against pristine boulder-coral
backgrounds. The marine life was very approachable here, as
the area is totally protected, with no spearfishing or hook-and-
line angling allowed.
As the ambient light dimmed toward the end of the day, I
used a 100mm macro lens and found the site extraordinarily
productive for reef minutia as well. There were plenty of
small butterflyfish flitting among the hard corals, and I could
now get tight shots of cleaner wrasse at work. I watched with
interest as a large bumphead wrasse munched away at the
reef with a seemingly insatiable appetite.
Thanks to enlightened management, the Cod Hole was
actually a much better dive than the first time I visited it,
but some of the other sites of my first-ever dives on the
Great Barrier Reef showed signs of stress. Years ago I did a
commercial shoot for Alcan Aluminum at Pixie Pinnacle.
Alcan manufactured the aluminum used in scuba tanks,
and they wanted a shot of a diver wearing one. Of course,
we could have done that anywhere, but the ad campaign
used the tagline “Down Under Down Under,” so we hopped
a plane and a liveaboard. Along with a team from the ad
agency (including a creative director who didn’t even dive),
my wife and I dived Pixie Pinnacle and got the shot against a
backdrop of lavish soft corals and colorful gorgonians.
Unfortunately, pinnacles are vulnerable to diver impact.
It’s not a matter of direct contact so much as exhaust-
bubble percolation. Divers circle the relatively small spire
nearly constantly, and the steady stream of exhaust bubbles
inevitably takes a toll on the filter feeders that decorate the
shallow portions of the bommie. Of course, my comparison
of the site to its previous state is based on recollections from
more than two decades ago, and significant changes over
that many years are not unexpected.
It wasn’t long before I began to see beyond what was
missing to what was there. Clouds of anthias flitted above
hard corals, many of which were remarkably pristine. The
groupers were far more bold and approachable here than in
many other areas of the world, which is another testament to
intelligent conservation. Pixie provided multiple encounters
with lionfish, both common and fire, as well as Moorish
idols, various species of butterflyfish, weedy scorpionfish and
stonefish. Finding a wobbegong on the night dive added to
Opposite, clockwise from top left:
Green sea turtle, Pixie Bommie;
Valerie Taylor dives with a potato
cod; blue-ringed octopus; dwarf
minke whale, Great Barrier
Reef; a cuttlefish deposits eggs
in staghorn coral