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That well known T.V. reporter, Anneka Rice, put it in a nutshell
when, whilst standing on the reef, stated "If you don't
come now you may be too late".
So
I packed my bags and went for the month of October, 1985,
which is supposed to be the time for calm glassy seas. The
first venture was on Mike Ball's 'Vatersport', leaving Townsville
for 7 days' placid diving in the Coral Sea. Unfortunately
nature decided otherwise and the wind rose to 25 knots, giving
high seas, to which the twin hull of the boat was not suited
and caused it to pitch and roll at an alarming rate (definately
not for queasy stomachs), Unable to reach the Coral Sea, we
visited the inner reefs, the first being Grub Reef.
On
diving, I could not believe that it was the Barrier Reef.
There was a distinct abscence of fish and the corals looked
dead. It was the same on the night dive at Faraday Reef, no
crinoids, not even featherstars. No change at Myrmidon Reef,
and John Brewer Reef was sand coated, but there were more
fish, probably due to being fed by tourists in glass bottomed
boats. Only when we reached Coil Reef and Wheeler Reef did
things improve, with bright corals and plenty of fish.
That
evening, the reason for the desolate reefs became apparent
as the rest of the divers - Australians -unloaded (Iift harpoon
guns and went in search of unlucky victims. The same. thing
happened every evening, except when we dived on the wreck
of the 'Yongola', which is a preserved area. No line fishing,
trawls or spearfishing were permitted, and here were gathered
all the fish, real big 'uns, sea snakes, eagle rays, tawny
sharks and bat fish, to name a few. This time they did not
retreat when the camera was raised to take a picture, in fact
they posed, except the snakes, which preferred to swim between
our legs.
By
now, an the 6th & 7th days, the sea became calm and we
windsurfed some 25 miles out to sea, the water was warmer
and we no longer shivered in our 4mm wet-suits, Things could
only now improve as we coached up to Cairns and, after two
days of sight-seeing, boarded the 'Bali Hai 11' for 10 days
on the Ribbon Reefs, The skipper, Gordon Oke, steamed all
afternoon and night to drop us at Hilda's Reef, Here some
of the corals were dead and there was not much life as compared
to the Red Sea. Out of a maximum of 8 divers, only 3 of us
were on board for this trip, so we had room to spare. The
meals were excellent and we enjoyed wine with every evening
meal.
Day
by day, we worked our way through Hick's Reef, Day Reef and
Yonge Reef. By now my two Hauticas and Nikonos V with an SBI03
flashgun, were working overtime. We still found the fish to
be very shy and the occasional white-tipped reef shark passed
us by. We saw no Manta's or Whale sharks.
The
highlight of the trip was Cod Hole, here the 400 lb Potato
Cod charged in like tanks to be fed and petted, and the Subawider
lens had to be fitted because they came so close. At one spot
some 50 bright yellow Gaterins, 18" in length, posed
side by side over a large bommie, and Gordon was able to place
his Nikonos V and 15 mm lens right up their noses (Guess who
had run out of film by then!).
We
concluded our trip with a week in the Brisbane State Forest,
way down in Melbourne, photographing Kangaroos, Wallabies
and Koala Bears. So, in fact, we did enjoy ourselves, but
the Barrier Reef needs to be protected before its too late.
You can't beat the Red Sea for corals, the Maldives for the
numbers and colours of fish and the best place to meet the
most sharks. Mind you, the Great Barrier Reef is a big place
and I'm sure it has much to offer, depending on the time of
year.
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