Sharks, sharks, sharks! The cool water
and poor visibility had me disappointed and regretting the decision to dive for
the first 60 seconds, until a 2.5m Grey Nurse (Sand Tiger) swam right by me –
from then it was on.
We followed (him?) under the pier to where an identical Grey Nurse was lying on the sand. They circled a few times and then swam off so we continued our dive – by now I was buzzing. We came across three White Tips resting under a log. In contrast to the slim, sleek cat-like appearance one normally associates with these sharks, these looked beefy and well fed.
We saw 3 tasselled Wobbegong Sharks, many endemic catfish, and several Giant Grouper. Under the Pier is a hive of activity, with schooling fish of all shapes and sizes.
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| Tasselled Wobbegong - Look hard!! Head to the left, tail to the right. He is so well camouflaged even with me within touching distance. |
The highlight of my dive was the end, however. I went back to find the Nurses. I settled on the sand next to one who was lying there resting. The other soon appeared and we spent a good 5 minutes eyeing each other up.
He was very curious about me and I have never been so
engaged with a shark. He swam up and down in front of me looking me in the
eyes, and then swam right for me, coming within 30cm of my face. He then
settled in the sand near me, obviously content that I was not a threat. Grey
Nurses are not aggressive sharks and he was swimming slowly and calmly so there
was no danger involved, but I was buzzing that he was so curious and spent so
much time with me.
