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Diving Eden - South Coast of NSW

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Shadowkiller

Digital Hunter
Jul 30, 2002
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Despite it being the middle of winter, I girded my loins, and headed south to the coastal town of Eden. 400km later I was near the Victorian border, and man was it cold... I nearly asked for my lunchtime beer to get warmed up...;)

Still, there was diving to be done so in we hopped.

Our first stop was a wharf, very popular with anglers, who didn't take very kindly to divers scaring off all the fish. The fish didn't know this, and followed me around all day!:D

The pic below is a Southern Rock Cod, with some evidence of fishing attached. :(
 

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These colder waters abound with live, with large schools of plankton feeder being seen everywhere. The pelagic predators are missing, it being winter, but plenty of reef species were frolicking on the reef slope in 12-20m.

Pic: A Blue-lined Goatfish. Usually very shy, this one thought I couldnt see him. :) :)
 

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The highlight of the 3 day trip was the sighting of a school of Long-snouted Boarfish. These fish are usually deepwater inhabitants (up to 200m) and to see an aggregation was mind blowing. I spent over an hour diving to 16-20m to snap pics. Pity the viz was so poor, only a few of the 50 odd pics turned out...
 

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One of the characters of the reef is the Blue-throated Wrasse. Very inquisitive but fast moving and loath to sit still for a pic. The amount of ass shots I took of this fish, before getting a front on shot... :hmm
 
Very Good! And that Boarfish is a beauty. Sometimes I don't mind "not-so-good" visibility as you can get some moody or ambient shots that give you a good feeling on what it really feels like to be there.

Adrian
 
Nice pictures Shadowkiller. What kind of camera are you using again?

Keep them coming.
 
Camera is an Olympus C5050, PT015 housing. No strobe, hence the backscatter from the internal flash... :(

Thanks for the kind comments! But please feel free to critique, I'm still learning, so any helpful criticism is welcome.

Pic below is a Dark-spotted Catshark. This little guy was nosing around the reef when I approached. He/she got scared and stuck its head in a crack. Guess the thinking was "I can't see you, you can't see me". I pulled it out, and snapped some shots, then repaid the shark for the hassle by gutting one of my fish and feeding it to the little guy. It was last seen enthusiastically wolfing down a chunk of fish gut the size of its head... :)
 
i dont think you should feed your subjects..its th whole ffeding crocs debate.. anyways those are some beautifull pics...keep up the good work

p.s. do you use Adobe Photoshop?
 
Heyyyy this thought just occurred to me...the collection looks like the whole gang from "Where is Nemo" I'm just jelous because I don't have a underwater camera Shadowkiller.

Errrr:hmm how cold is the water downunder during winter anyway?
 
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Originally posted by mishu1984
i dont think you should feed your subjects..its th whole ffeding crocs debate..

Good point Mishu...
The next time a 40cm toothless shark savages someone, I will take full responsibility...:D hehehe
I don't usually feed sharks, bad idea, but this little guy was too cute. I wanted to take him home, but we already have a dog... :D

Feeding fish makes them sit still, which greatly improves your chances of getting a decent shot. After all thats same reason why spearos use berley. I find a lot of wrasses will never stay still long enough for a picture, but crack open a few sea urchins, and they become more friendly. I use sea urchin burley for small fish, that you need to get within 15-30cm to get a decent photo. Unlike scuba equiped photographers, I dont have the luxury of spending 20 minutes sneaking up on a fishy. Lets face it, I'm lucky to spend 2 minutes underwater... :eek:

One thing I do draw the line at is burleying (while shooting photos) for commonly speared species. I don't like the idea of teaching a fish that humans are harmless, only to have it shot the next day. Just my quirk I guess....

Location was Eden, NSW, Australia. Water temp was 16-17 degrees, viz ranged from 8-12m.

I have seen Butterflyfish this far south, but no Clownfish. Its a bit cold..
 
Stunning

Beautiful. Makes me want to get a camera - not much here but rock bass, carp, suckers - mottled sculpins and some non-indigenous Gobies if you've got an eye for detail (little bottom dwellers).
Got those free diving eh? Very very nice work - pulled em down for desktop/screensaver.
 
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