InWords: 2013 Travel Dispatch #22 (Diving GBR: Post 2)

Installment # Two of the dive pics. The lead photo of both of these dive posts has been of Humphead Parrotfish. They are just as big as they look, probably between three and four feet long, and completely harmless. Seeing them in a school as large as we saw (numbering fifty or more fish) was quite exciting.

While we were on top of the water there was an aspect of the trip that was very much appreciated. The photo above demonstrates the sea conditions for pretty much the whole time we were out -- nearly a dead calm. And when you're thirty or forty miles from land and spending all that time ON the boat, calm seas are a wonderful thing. The boat was always in motion, of course, but it was a gentle, easy rocking. But even with that, there were a few passengers who may not entirely agree.

And now, back to the fish. Or more precisely, a couple of fish in particular.

There I was, just swimming along minding my own business about thirty or forty feet underwater when all of a sudden I'm accosted by this fish -- and a pretty good sized fish at that.

This may look like a closeup because it is! But not because of the camera setting. The camera was actually set at maximum wide angle and this fish is basically right in front of the lens. And it's not just looking me over, it's swimming fast and coming at me. As I paid attention to this one, I felt a bump on my head and another one had just bonked me on the way by. Two of them were swimming very fast around me in attack mode. Happily they weren't sharks but Triggerfish. Fine examples of Titan Triggerfish and apparently I had inadvertently strayed too close to their nest site.

My dive buddy, Fran, observed the whole thing from a short distance away and gave me a hand. I mean she really gave me a hand, she applauded. Looking at these pics after the fact and noticing those teeth and very full looking botoxy lips, I was glad they felt no need to nip me.

As amazing as the fish were, and they really are quite amazing and wonderful, I think the thing that impressed me most on our dives was the coral we saw there. We hear horror stories all the time about the decline of coral the dying and bleaching of coral and the generally dismal state of our oceans. With all of that happening, and we have seen sad examples of it, it was very heartening to see reefs where the coral and all the life it supports was looking quite healthy. Pictures of coral may not, on the surface, be as exciting as fish pictures; but seeing healthy coral is very exciting. It is beautiful and amazingly colorful.

A veritable wonderland unlike anything else. You may have noticed something besides coral sneaking into that last picture. We always like to run across turtles and on this trip we did manage to cross paths with one. They're a delight to watch underwater. I wish I had thought to do a video of this guy.

Turtles you are always happy to see. Some of the other reef residents you're maybe not always so happy about. Sharks, of course, are more likely to be on the second list. But this one is really quite harmless even if it was an intimidating six or seven feet long.

It's a White-tipped Reef Shark and no more dangerous or threatening than this exotic, underwater creature.

So we came to the end of another day and the end of a fabulous diving experience. . .

. . . as Fran climbs out backwards, the approved ProDive way, at the end of the last dive of the trip.

The dive experience we had with ProDive of Cairns was as good as any we've had anyplace. It was our first time doing a live aboard of this type and we had some trepidations about it going in. But they were a thoroughly professional and polished operation. They had all the details worked out for seamless efficiency during every phase of the trip. To make it even more enjoyable and pleasant, the atmosphere on the boat was friendly, fun and helpful. But never at the expense of safety which is a pretty important consideration when people are disappearing underwater for extended intervals several times each day. And to top it all off, the food was plentiful and very good. The chief, actually only, cook was Veronica and she did an amazing job of keeping forty people fueled and happy -- even doing special menus for people with dietary issues.