With the time crunch at the end of the dive charter, I didn't get a chance to process the last few dives on the Yongala before coming to port. So here they are in the continuation:
Underneath the bow of the wreck, there is about a 4-6 foot gap between the bow and the seafloor. This giant loggerhead (or leatherback, I can't tell) turtle was sleeping in a depression. My buddy, Bruce, thought it was a wheelbarrow at first. I also swam right up to it without recognizing it as a turtle. He's huge and I estimate him to be at least 4 feet long from nose to tail. You'll notice the closed eyes....he didn't move an eyelid during his photo shoot (or during some video shoots either). In fact, he slept in that spot for at least 4 hours. The next day, we found him sleeping in another depression in the sand about 20 yards away from the wreck.
This grouper isn't about to eat me. He's getting cleaned by a little fish at a "cleaning station".
Unicorn fish schools are always neat to see:
This shovelnose ray kept buzzing us on every dive and it was a bit distracting since he seemed to time it just as I was trying to get a picture of something else. Despite that, this was the only picture I got of it. BTW, that's just the head. The body is very similar to a shark's (without the teeth).
One last green turtle shot (this was the last underwater picture I took on the trip). Nice way to end it....
Wow... how lucky to see the shovelnose ray! We don't have them here in Malaysia & rarely in our Asian region.
Posted by: Asther | October 12, 2006 at 03:24 AM