5 X Manter Rays

Wow, what a fantastic weeks diving we have had, the weather might not have been the best but the visibility and the amount of fish activity was to die for.

During the week our guest we defiantly very spoilt with 5 Manter Rays, 1 Pilot Whale, Dolphins and our regular visit from Dorothy the Dugong. Not only did our dives get to see Dorothy on the dive site but Jim and Kenny while checking our moorings out the front had the pleasure of playing with a mum and a calf. And mustn’t forget the 2 turtles on the night dive.

We have had great people diving with us during the week but it is always nice to see Mum, Dad and the pikinees diving together.

From Chantelle and Michalis (Greece)

January 2008
We had a great week of diving with the team at Nautilus. Warm water, good vis, excellent wrecks and some other really fun dives with dynamic staff who took care of everything. We took loads of shots but these two are our favourites Dive site: The Big Dipper. The little fish is no more than a few millimeters long.
Best wishes Chantelle and Michalis (Greece)
Here a couple of photo's we took

Ryan, a Divemaster in training completes another Skill

Stingray at Pango Point

Unidentified Stingray
Cruising down Pango Reef towards the Semle Federsen wreck this large lump in the sand caught our attention. All we could make out was a large gill moving gently, but as we approached the "lump" it turned out to be a huge stingray buried in the sand. It looked strange as it didn't have the normal whip tail that most stingrays have ... it had a stump instead ! What's out there that eats stingray tails, or have we discovered a new creature ?

"Angry Clownfish"

Angry Clownfish
The biggest bully in the ocean !! This little clownfish was tormenting us as we tried to photograph it at Pango reef. Jordan (13) and Rhiana (12) have a fascination with these little fish, and wanted to see them on the dive. They got themselves close enough to the anemone that the dominant clownfish decided that enough was enough .. and they were too close ... so gave them a small bite on the hand to tell them off. Squeals of laughter from Jordan and Rhiana and the fun had only just begun as we had another 30 minutes or so of diving and clownfish searching left to do.

The Cathedral

Cathedral
The best time to do the Cathedral cavern dive is early morning, with the sun streaming down into the cavern. Otto (pictured) requested that we jump in before the rest of the divers to get the chance for photos and we had the cavern to ourselves. Visability is usually 20 meters, but on this occassion we were fortunate to have 30 meters or more. On exiting the cavern to begin the wall portion of the dive, a large eagle ray cruised passed us out into the blue ... it then turned around back towards us, and went straight over our heads, only a couple of meters above. What a shame all the other divers were still inside the cavern and missed this !!

Not one but TW0 dugong's 23/12/07

Upon setting off on an afternoon dive, we teased the staff left behind that we were going to swim with a dugong as some of them had done the week before. After nearly completing our dive at ‘Twin Bommies’ along came not 1 but 2 dugongs. ‘Dorothy’ had found a friend. It was an amazing and thrilling experience, one we will treasure forever. Thanks to all the crew at Nautilus for sharing this with us along with all the other fantastic dives we did over the past 2 weeks.

Written & Photo’s By: Rick & Leisa Perren
Rockhampton, Queensland

http://www.nautilus.com.vu/