DIVE LOG AUSTRALASIA FEB 2025 ISSUE 410

fifty sleeping Parrotfish. To be fair, the vast majority of them were so far and deep into the branching arms of the coral that they were impossible to photograph. I still managed to get good photographic records of a number of species. Back on board, I tried to identify them. There were a total of four Marine Biologists on board. We poured over the ID books to no avail. These Parrotfish were similar to known species yet different. Were they natural hybrids? Were they new species? We were not able to do anything else other than to marvel at the wonders of Mother Nature in this extra-ordinary part of the GBR. When I got home, I contacted Australia’s recognised Parrotfish expert, Dr Bellwood from James Cook University in Townsville. he looked at the photos and said “ I can identify some of them but good luck identifying these others.” Diving on the Great Barrier Reef also features many marauding Coral Trout. They are a spectacular night diving subject, always on the prowl and dangerous. Coral Trout are not so common around the Pacific other than in Australia because the these days the GBR is recognised as the best managed coral reef in the world. Great Detached has regular sightings of Ornate Lobsters, always a treat. Another favorite encounter

Coral Trout are apex predators

on night dives here was a Titan trigger fish. Night diving here is the best. Typically, we do the night dive on a dive we have done before, as long as we can maintain safe anchorage. We visit Great Detached Island in November or December to coincide with the world’s largest breeding event for Green Turtles. Tiger sharks swim for hundreds of kms to feed off old, sick or dying turtles. Luckily, we did not see any Tigers except for one evening a nine foot Tiger shark swam around the boat fifteen minutes before the night dive. Everyone pulled out of the except for me and my buddy Simon.

The best time to photograph Parrotfish is after dark.

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DIVE LOG Australasia #410 - February 25

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