A Night on the Reef

I have a lot to say about the last couple of days, so if you don’t feel like reading then you can just look at the pretty pictures. I got so fed up with sitting around in Cairns that I decided to spend the money and book a two day one night stay on the Great Barrier Reef. I ended up with 6 dives total on board the Reef Encounter, one of which was a night dive. We visited 4 different reefs, highlighted in bright yellow on the map. I was so exhausted by the diving that I didn’t do much snorkeling; not that snorkeling was necessary anyway given the quality of the dives. Below is a somewhat brief synopsis of my trip.

Day 1, 8/20:

We departed Cairns at 7:30AM on board the Reef Experience, which would then transfer us to the Reef Encounter, a 50 meter catamaran with a full kitchen, bar, hot showers, a hot tub that doesn’t work, and everything you need for an extended stay diving on the Great Barrier Reef. The Reef Encounter was moored at Hastings Reef. We started off with an intro to the boat and the crew, followed by a quick 20 minute snorkel to get used to being wet before the first dive. The reef was the best I’ve seen so far, the highlight being a huge Maury Wrasse, expect this one wasn’t fed like the behemoth pictured in my last post. We then had an excellent lunch prepared by chef Fry (because he looks like Fry from the show Futurama). After our food was properly digested, it was time for our first dive.

This was my third dive on the GBR, but my first off of the Encounter, so I decided to go with a guide just in case I had any problems with the gear and navigating the reef. This dive was at Hastings Reef, and I managed a max depth of 12.7 meters during a 37 min dive. I went with 2 other people who also were not yet comfortable diving without a guide. Our dive instructor trainee was named Phil, and it just so happened to be his 100th dive. Apparently there’s a tradition in diving where you have to go naked on your 100th dive. The boyfriend of the girl that was going to dive with us seemed particularly concerned about this tradition, and the girlfriend seemed particularly embarrassed at his white ass under water (which we later named Migaloo, after the lone white humpback whale that is seen every year in the Eastern Australian population).

Phil kept pointing out (yes with all 3 appendages) the various types of anemonefish or clownfish along the dive; such as the Barrier Reef Anemonefish and the Tomato Anemonefish. I think all dive instructors assume that everyone wants to see the damn clownfish. I was more interested in the echinoderms of the reef, the seastars, sea cucumbers, urchins, and crinoids (feather stars) which are not common I don’t think in colder temperate waters. Crinoids are unique among echinoderms, for they are suspension feeders. They capture plankton with their many arms that appear feathery from the numerous side branches called pinnules. The pinnules are sticky and capture the plankton from the water, where they are then transported view cilia to the mouth located on the upper surface rather than the bottom like in seastars. The picture isn’t great, but you can see all the arms with pinnules. They can swim through the water by waving their arms, but are usually stationary. They seem to pick spots on the reef where currents are strongest, to maximize their exposure to food particles. At first glance they appear as though they are a type of algae, and are apparently largely ignored by the reef inhabitants (including the divers who are only focused on finding Nemo).

During the first dive I was having trouble keeping water out of my mask since my beard had not been trimmed in several days, and I spent most of my time blowing air and snot into my mask to keep the water out. So for the second dive, I tried the old Vaseline trick, which acts as a barrier when smeared all over your mustache. For Dive#2, I went with the same two people who required a guide for the first dive, and we did not stay down for very long. We were at our second location, Norman Reef, and my max depth was 10.7 meters during a 30min dive. One of my buddies was having trouble controlling his buoyancy, and he kept floating up and down in the water column, while flailing about and scaring all of the fish. This was my favorite spot, the reef juts up with huge pinnacles, and there are many trenches, valleys, and partially enclosed caves to explore. I tried my best not to touch the reef, and cringed as I watched my dive buddy destroy thousands of years of reef building by the combined effort of tiny coral polyps.

The two dives and the snorkel session really worked up an appetite, and we all eagerly awaited what Fry had prepared us for dinner. Reef Encounter does not promote feeding the fish, but they inadvertently do it anyways when the chef throws the scrapes out the window. We watched from the upper deck as swarms of dark green Giant Trevally and Red Bass appeared to pick up the leftovers. I think the Trevally were changing color, as fish often do when they are stimulated, which gave them their deep green appearance and white tipped dorsal fins. The Red Bass also looked a stunning scarlet red in the fading light. Then the sharks appeared. One 2 meter Gray Reef Shark turned into 4. They were beautiful to watch as they circled around the oil slick from the kitchen scraps. It was like watching a fluid moving painting of a tropical ocean scene.

After another fantastic meal and the shark show, when dawned our gear once again in preparation for Dive# 3…The night dive! For the night dive we were not allowed to go deeper than 10 meters, so my max was 9.5 meters during a 28 min dive, still at Norman Reef. This time I planned to go with two more experienced divers who had been on the boat for several days. One was my roommate named Sibyl, who called one of the White Tipped Reef Sharks often seen at this spot her Romeo, and Craig, a fellow Californian from San Diego. We were told that the first divers in the water stood the best chance of seeing the Gray Reef Sharks before they scattered back to the depth, so naturally we were the first ones ready to go.

I really didn’t want a leaky mask on this dive so a globed a thick layer of Vaseline on my face, which turned out to be a big mistake. I ended having so much on my fingers that when I went to rub the spit around the inside of my mask, I also smeared a layer of Vaseline around as well. After about 15 minutes I couldn’t see much of anything, and stayed very close to my buddies. I also had a bummed light, which would flicker from very bright to candle strength. This made the night dive extra interesting and still very fun.

The best part of the dive was watching the opportunistic relationship between a Giant Trevally and Sibyl. The Travelly’s have grown accustomed to night divers at this spot, and have learned to take advantage of the dive lights as they scan the reef. One Trevally followed Sibyl’s light during almost the entire dive, and when the light revealed a fish hiding in the coral, the Trevally would swoop in with lighting speed and snatch it. The ironic part was Sibyl is a vegetarian, so she tried her best not to let the light rest on one fish for very long, to keep the Trevally from noticing. Finally Sibyl got so tired of the Trevally benefiting from her light that she suddenly swam rapidly in one direction, then quickly doused her torch and altered course, which proved to be effective at evading the clever opportunist.

By far my favorite part of the experience was the night’s sleep. I have been sleeping on a hostel bed for the last week, where I could feel every spring poking me in the back; so of course a nice mattress with clean sheets was a welcomed sight. After the dive I went to the top deck and watched the stars for a while. The moon was a quarter full, but a lack of lights from civilization afforded a view of the sky that has been completely lost to most places on land. The sound of the gentle breaking waves over the reef added to the already subduing sight of the puffy clouds, illuminated silver by the moon, slowing drifting across a deep blanket of vivid stars. My room was at water level, and it was nice hearing the water interact with the hull as it pitched. It took a while to get used to the free falling experience of the rocking boat while lying in bed, but once I was out it was all over.

Day 2, 8/21

That is of course until the 6:00AM courtesy wake up, to get ready for the morning dive at 6:30. I rose out of bed and peered through my porthole window to see the sun creeping above the horizon, turning the clouds this time the familiar colors of a sunrise over the ocean. The breeze was steady from the southwest, and the air was chilly for being the tropics.

Our last dive at Norman Reef, Dive#4 was my deepest dive yet; a max depth of 17.7 meters during a 39 minute dive. We were going to go deeper for longer, but my training only allows me to dive 18 meters max, and they didn’t want us diving for longer than 40 minutes. The punishment for breaking these and other rules was a spoonful of Vegemite; which I happen to enjoy but only in small doses. Immediately when we made it to the bottom we spotted a cuttlefish hanging around the shadow of the boat. Many of the fish were just re-emerging from their night time hiding spots, as the golden rays of the morning sun started to light up the reef once again. Embarrassingly I managed to hit my head on the bottom of the boat while surfacing from this dive. I thought the boat was on the other side of the submerged stairs, and was surprised when I struck a barrier at the surface. That’s what happens when you dive before your morning coffee, which unfortunately is usually of the instant variety in Australia. Luckily no one seemed to notice, that would have been a spoonful of Vegemite for sure.

Dive# 5 and 6 were both at a new location called Saxon Reef, known for a coral formation called twin peaks. Dive 5 was 16.6 meters max during a 39 minute dive; Dive 6 maxed out at 15.4 meters and went on for 40 minutes. Highlights included an extended view of a Blue Spotted Ray, and huge schools of Great Barracuda. I was told that barracuda have been known to snatch off the fingers of divers, so I made sure not to use my spirit fingers. We found a cleaning station at one point and watched as a huge Potato Grouper came in for his daily grooming by the small Cleaner Wrasse, whose diligent efforts keep the reef fish free of ecto or skin parasites, in return for not being eaten.

All and all it was an experience I won’t soon forget, and was well worth the money. During the ride back to Cairns I posted myself on the back deck and did what I do best, stare at the ocean and watch for whales. I didn’t see any humpbacks, but I did find 2 groups of Spinner Dolphins, several Green Turtles, and many Sooty Terns and Common Noddy’s. Pulling back into the harbor was my least favorite part. Needless to say I was not ready to put my shoes back on and walk amongst the terrestrial people once again. Until my next trip out to sea.