409 Dive Log Australasia December 24

Pygmy Seahorse, Leafy Scorpion Fish, multiple cleaner stations, Banded Pipefish, Lionfish, Moorish Idols, eYllow Boxfish, Rabbit Fish, Angle Fish, Mantis Shrimp, schools of Fusiliers and Trevally, Nemos, Coral Cod and Coral Trout. Ribbon #4 dive sites are not visited all that often but nevertheless have fantastic coral cover and associated marine life which begs further exploration. The lower end of Ribbon #3 and top of #2 includes the opportunity to dive ‘Joani’s Joy’ and most likely encounter Cuttle Fish at ‘Summer Bay’. However, this area also has ‘Steve’s Bommie’, a dive site we have dedicated entire articles to in the past. Steve’s Bommie is a relatively small pinnacle coming out of 30 metres to within 5 meters of the surface and one of the best dives on the planet in our experience. It

is a biomass of Elephant Ear Coral, soft corals and Gorgonians with both big and small creatures bussing about everywhere. Over the multiple dives we have had on Steves, we have found: Yellow and White Leafy Scorpion Fish, Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Frogfish, Pygmy Seahorse, nudibranchs, cleaner stations, sea snakes, Stone Fish, Painted Cray Fish, octopus, schools of Yellow Snapper, turtles, Eagle Rays, Grey and White Tip Reef Sharks, Wobbegongs and the occasional Nurse Shark. Lionfish, Long Nose Hawk Fish, Pipefish, Leopard Blennies and all sorts of reef fish are also plentiful. On the top of Steves, as you do your safety stop, you can wonder at the massive multi-species nemo colony just at the end of your fins. Just south of Steves is ‘Flair Point’,often the last dive of a trip down the Ribbons on Spoilsport. Even

Racoon Butterflyfish

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DIVE LOG Australasia #409 - December ‘24