411 Dive Log Australasia April 2025

View from the Bridge Trevor Jackson - Spoilsport Skipper www.mikeball.com/blog Great Barrier Reef on the March

PHOTOS FROM JANUARY/FEBRUARY

The Reef Report: Still GREAT!

The refit was done. All the welding, noise, and dust… The travel lift released the mighty lady back into the water, and she slid silently backward… unleashed to her heavenly domain. Ocean-bound again after a month on the concrete. If boats could breathe, there was an almost discernible sigh of relief and joy as the motors slipped into gear and she surged forward. A few hours alongside was all we had. There was work to do—loading fuel, food, and crew. We had just a few days before our first official charter to sneak in a vital mission. Effectively, we were going to check our stomping grounds to see if they remained as pristine and untouched as before our month-long grounding. The question sat deep behind our eyes… Had this summer brought any bleaching? Were our reefs still GREAT? The weather had been calm, and the daytime temperatures… well… tropical, to say the least. The right combination—or in this case, the wrong combination. Water temperatures rise when there are no waves churning and blending the surface layer. We had eight sites to check, over 100 “Eye on the Reef” surveys to complete. By the end of it, in just two days’ time, we’d know. We had to move fast. Getting that much done with just a crew of eight in the timeframe we had would require almost military discipline. I wrote the dive times on the whiteboard—four dives a day, three hours apart… early starts and late finishes. The standing order of the day: “Be ready when we get there. Completely ready. There’s no time to waste.” We started the first dive before sunup—probably a little too early, but it signaled our intent. Things went seamlessly, and the first report was positive. No bleaching. Some heat stress, yes, but the kind of stress the coral comes back from. We moved on. The dives went like clockwork, a well-oiled Mike Ball crew. As each dive team returned, those on board scoured their faces, searching for signs that something might be wrong—that the rainbow colors of our playground were fading to white, that the tempera tures had ravaged each scene. Site after site, dive after dive, again and again… Day 1, Day 2… the answer was the same. “Any bleaching?” “Nope!” Now, I’m a ship’s captain, so naturally, it’s part of my nature to be transparently honest. There were signs it had been a hot summer—but you had to look REAL hard. Up in the reef-top shallows, there were signs of heat. Deeper down, it was as it should be… AWESOME. The corals of the Ribbon Reefs had remained—as we say around here— GREAT… as in GREAT Barrier Reef. It was the last day of February. The most golden of sunsets marked the end of our survey trip. It also marked the end of summer—officially. I nudged the mighty ship into gear, and she swung around to the south, Cairns bound… and a new year of adventures awaits. Quite simply put… ‘Twas not to be! “Any bleaching?” “Nope!”

1st. Libby Sterling

2nd. Linda Russell

3rd. Andreas Nilsson

Coral Sea & Great Barrier Reef! The Best Diving on the Dive with giant potato cod, explore deep walls, witness shark action at Osprey Reef.

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Ribbon Reefs Suited to both Divers and Snorkelers.

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See you soon.

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