420 Dive Log Australasia OCTOBER 2026

I ’d like to focus now on pioneer diver Noel Monkman, naturalist and marine biologist. He grew up in Moeraki, New Zealand, by the sea, before moving to Australia, where he met his wife Kitty during concert performances, as they were both concert musicians, Noel playing cello and Kitty the piano. Throughout their long partnership, the Monkman’s blended natural science and personal adventure with Noel’s great skills as a photographer and diver. They lived mainly in north Queensland and carried out their marine studies in a small laboratory on Green Island, off Cairns, to satisfy their insatiable curiosity for marine natural history. Noel Monkman explored the coral reefs with early Aqualung scuba equipment in the early 1950s, observing the habits of marine creatures and taking underwater film which became internationally famous. His photography skills also extended to filming through a laboratory microscope, recording some of the miniscule wonders of the deep, normally unseen by the naked eye. As a lad, living by the sea in New Zealand, swimming with the Maori boys, Noel was set on a pilgrimage from early childhood towards the goal of which the seahorse became his symbol. He collected specimens in a sea-pool and studied them with a NOEL MONKMAN – DIVER & SCIENTIST by Des Williams

water-filled bottle, which served as a magnifying glass, all of which eventually set him on a career as a naturalist and marine biologist. Noel’s two books ‘ Escape to Adventure ’ (1956) and ‘ Quest of the Curly-tailed Seahorses’ (1962) can still be found in second-hand book shops and make wonderful reading for divers with a passion for small marine creatures and an interest in the development of marine biology in Australia. During 1953, famous Australian film actor Chips Rafferty, produced a classic pearl diving drama for the cinema, titled ‘ King of the Coral Sea’ . A story of pearl diving derring-do, set on Thursday Island in Torres

94

DIVE LOG Australasia #420 Oct ‘ 26

www.divelog.net.au