Breaking down barriers

You know the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of Australia that you�ve seen in countless videos and pictures? Well, it turns out there�s yet another similarly impressive reef that�s located near the same country.Link: HEREThe Great Barrier Reef in Queensland is part of the UNESCO World Heritage that it might have an actual rival located in the south of Australia. Officials from Parks Victoria said that the newly exposed Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park reef near Melbourne can match the Great Barrier Reef in terms of the abundance of coral, sponge and fish. The problem with the Victoria reef, however, is that it�s located...

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La Grange

Getting ready for another day at the office........Flat calm. No wind. No current. No distractions. The perfect day for diving. No sharks either mind you but I had a gut feeling that they weren't going to come around but we went to Split Rock anyway and had a nice little bimble on the wall with Captain Nat, Sarah and Mark.We've gotten lucky the last few weekends with the conditions and we've had no ill effects from Hurricane Danny so far either but they reckon he's going to be a non starter as he's rapidly diminishing now. as he makes his way towards Puerto Rico.Snapper hole was next on the list for dive number two and I'm embarresed to say I...

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Little miss strange

These creatures, found around the Galapagos, are so weird that the scientists filming them don�t even know what some of them are. This is film from the Exploration Vessel Nautilus, a vessel dedicated primarily to exploration, and incidentally to showing us footage of some of the strangest creatures on the planet. This video was taken near hydrothermal vents, which are notorious for nurturing the kind of life that scientists think is impossible until they discover it. The last creature, which the researchers do identify, is the flamboyant squid worm, and was only discovered in 2007. They talk about it being both �benthic�...

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Hello there (ladies and gentlemen)

Well I know it's been several long weeks with getting wet, due in part to work, but mostly in part due to Jill's hair (don't ask). But we made it back in the water at our favourite shore dive, Divetech's LHP.7.30am, perfect conditionsThe conditions were perfect, no current, no surge and great viz. To top it all the water was teeming with fish. I have never seen that amount of marine life hanging around here before, the water was so thick with fish I nearly had to break out the compass just to find my way back to shore. Huge shoals of fusiliers, tang and parrot fish cruising overhead in the shallows at 6 metres, some epics examples of barracuda...

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John the fisherman

Mother nature keeps on surprising us with the finding of a new species of angler fish in the depths. How much more is there out there to find I wonder?"A new species of fish that researchers describe as being �downright scary looking� has just been discovered in the deep sea. The new anglerfish, which has been placed in the genus Lasiognathus, adds to the growing number of formidable-looking known species in the deep sea. This particular fish, described in the journal Copeia, was found at nearly 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico�s northern region."Link: HERE&nb...

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She's a rainbow

The aquatic world once again proves it worth by shedding some light on the dark mysteries of body armour, robots and flexible electronics.Link: HERE  The characteristically boxy fish has a shell made up of interlocking hexagonal scales, complete with a raised star-like structure in the centre that distributes stress across the surface. After dissecting the scales, researchers discovered a flexible inner layer of interlocking collagen fibres that are tough to penetrate."The boxfish is small and yet it survives in the ocean where it is surrounded by bigger, aggressive fish, at a depth of 50 to 100 meters," said Wen Yang, the lead...

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