DIVE LOG DECEMBER 25 ISSUE 415

This photo from Komodo shows best practice manta ray etiquette. The well trained dive staff on Heron Island explain how guests can enjoy optimal experiences. Stay still on the sea floor, the Manta’s will circle and dance overhead.

. ANGELFISH SPOTTING The Southern Great Barrier Reef has excellent populations of tropical fish. I have been extremely fortunate to have dived for well over four hundred days of diving during fifty three separate diving trips on the Reef. Most of these were live aboards. It is interesting to compare the Ribbon reefs from far North Queensland and fish life from near Heron Island and Raine Island, all the way close to PNG. Most of the fish life is similar but a very rough guess is that

maybe ten or twenty per cent differs. Some fish are happy with cooler water and others are limited by warm water and are confined to equatorial zones. If you like to observe these phenomena like I do, a wealth of wonder is revealed. You glean deeper understanding of these effects on the distribution and abundance of species and how the water temperature affect the marine life. A great way to see is is by going on an Angelfish Spotting dive.

Juvenile Imperial Angelfish

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DIVE LOG Australasia #415 - December’ 25

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