PRO DIVE Lord Howe Island

Happenings

MANTA RAY ENCOUNTER Monday 19th Jan 2009

While giving a dive brief on Monday at Malabar Tas noticed a large dark shape in the water, unsure of what it was grabbed a mask, as did Morris and jumped overboard to investigate. Once having a closer look realised it was a Manta Ray of at least 3 meters across.

Tas called for all divers onboard to grab a mask and also jump in for a look. The Manta Ray hung around on the surface while swimming into a light current for around 5 minutes with the divers before just a swoosh’s of its wings and it was gone.

It appears that the Manta was hanging around feeding on krill and possibly here for the coral spawning.

While there have been a few Manta Ray sightings over the years on Lord Howe they are not commonly found. One of the best things about diving around Lord Howe is that you never really know what you are going to run into. A very rare, yet amazing encounter.

LOGGERHEAD TURTLES VISIT LORD HOWE...VIA QANTASLINK?

Loggerhead turtles otherwise known as the Caretta Caretta are the most endangered turtle in the world. The main in water threats to these turtles are incidental catches in nets, traps, long lines and other fishing gear or netting from shark control programs as well as the debris and litter thrown into the ocean each year.

It is believed that Loggerhead hatchlings go into what we refer to as “the lost years” where their whereabouts for sometime are unknown.

There is belief that during these lost years they cruise the ocean currents drifting and feeding on Jelly fish & bottom dwelling invertebrates until they are approximately 40-50cm in length, we don’t know exactly how long this is but scientists predict approximately 3-7 years before they begin migrating into shallower costal waters.

At a later stage in life we believe they then return to their nesting beach and once again the cycle of life begins.

Two hatchlings Tilly & Tommy washed ashore, Tilly at Corrimal beach in Wollongong and Tommy on Kurnell beach in Sydney before being rescued by a sea bird rescue team, they have since been fed and reared making home at Tooronga zoo, Sydney for the past 12 months.

It was believed by turtle guru Dr Collin Limpus the best chance that Tilly and Tommy would have if released back into the ocean would be if they were to be released off Lord Howe Island to meet the Eastern Australian current and head on their way into the “lost years”.

The Eastern Australian Current comes down from the Great Barrier Reef in Qld acting almost like a “conveyer belt” of water bringing thousands of tropical fish and marine life (including the Green turtle, Hawksbill & even the Loggerhead turtle on rare occasions) and delivering them to the Island each year.

After arriving on Lord Howe Island as hand luggage aboard a Qantaslink dash 8 with Marine Parks manager Ian Kerr on Friday 17th November, 2008 they were released into the ocean approximately 4-5 miles North East of the Island the Loggerhead turtle at PRO DIVE

following day.

From here we have no way of knowing which way they are heading but do believe they will be in the right current to take them on their journey. Both Tilly and Tommy have been fitted with a micro chip in the case that they wash up on another beach they will be able to be identified. If you do see them while diving don’t forget to report your sighting to Ian Kerr and Sallyanne Grudge at the Marine Parks office.

DIVING IN SYDNEY - AUGUST 9 ,2008

We have shown you our dive sites...its time you showed us yours!
Join Lauren and Tas for a Dive in Sydney aboard the Sealife V.
Departure Points:
Rose Bay Warf 8am return 1.15pm
Manly Yacht Club 8.15am return 12.30
Dive Sites: Magic Point depth 18 meters & North Bondi depth 16 meters
Marine Life: Seahorse (Lauren's fav), Wobbegongs, Grey nurse Sharks, cuttlefish & very cold water.
What to bring: Lot’s of rubber! That’s right its going to be chilli but come on, if us Lord Howee's can handle it so can you! The Challenge: The best photo of a seahorse or weedy sea dragon taken on the day (judged by Lauren), will win free entry to next years photo competition valued at $120 you have got to go down to win it!
Lauren will cook some hot yummy food to warm up for the surface interval and there is even a hot water shower onboard
BOOK ONLINE NOW!

A WEEKEND IN NELSON BAY AUGUST 2009

Come and spend the weekend at Port Stephens with us! Tas and I will in Port Stephens arriving on the Friday evening 20th August and staying for a weekend of solid diving, good food and great wine! At that time of year be sure to bring plenty of rubber and scarf and beanies!

Full cost and details will be available shortly.

UNDERWATER DIGITAL PHOTO COMPETITION

There was a fantastic turn out for the underwater photo competition held April 28 – May 5. A group of very excited divers turned up with cameras in hand egger to get into the water and go for a dive and see what Lord Howe has to offer.
During the week we had loads of BBQ’s and shared photo’s and diving stories before the final night’s Pirate party! What a laugh, everyone came in costume and many drinks were enjoyed. See the latest edition of Scuba Diver Magazine for a the winning photo’s and entrants. We would like to Thanks Pinetrees lodge for hosting our divers & donating a prize of 3 nights accommodation, Qantaslink for donating 2 return flights for the competition winner, Tusa, Aquanaut, Sea & Sea, PRO DIVE Manly, PRO DIVE Mid City, Scuba Diver Magazine & Sport Diving Magazine for their support and prize donations that made the event possible. Look out for our next competition held in May 2009.

WINTER DIVE TRIP 2006

During our 2 month break we have had the opportunity to do some amazing diving from North QLD's Coral Sea to Southern Victoria’s town of Portland while catching up with some great friends and meeting new ones along the way.

CORAL SEA
We started with a scenic flight out to Lizard Island to meet our boat the Spirit of Freedom and begin our journey out to the Coral Sea. On our first day we motored out to the Ribbon Reefs for 2 great dives.
After a long and rough night (no sleep and lots of sea sickness pills for Lauren) we woke to a bang on our door and Sheppo (our trip director) yelling !!DIVE TIME!!
Here we found ourselves faced with a perfect sunny day and great diving conditions on the Osprey reef. Our favourite dive site on the trip was Stephen’s Bommie because it was very similar to a dive site of ours Ball's Pyramid. The crew on board the Spirit of Freedom were absolutely exceptional, we would like to thank them and also the great friends we met on board.

TOWNSVILLE
Tas rubbered up for a dive

From here we hired a car and drove from Cairns to Townsville to see 2 of our old friends and fellow divers Kathleen and Andy. As it turned out Tas was very pleased to hear Kathleen works next door to the Townsville Aquarium, so this is where we found him each day after she was able to give us a guided tour.

On our second day in Townsville and after much organising and researching on Kathleen and Andy's behalf we made our way down to Adrenalin dive to book on to dive the S.S Yongala.

Once again luck was on our side when we found ourselves with yet another beautiful day and perfect dive conditions. The journey out to the Yongala was long but was more than worth it!

The S.S Yongala has a fascinating history and is an amazing wreck itself but with the overwhelming array of marine life this is truly a fantastic dive site.

We highly recommend Adrenaline Dive for a trip to dive the S.S Yongala with the continuous flow of food on the journey and the great speal on the ships history, they know how to make a great day of it.

Many thanks to Kathleen and Andy for such great hospitality and showing us the sites of Townsville, not to mention the great day on the Yongala followed by Andy's suggestion of a glass of wine and sunset. It was perfect! Tas and Kathleen fighting over the BBQ

MELBOURNE
From here we flew down to chilli Melbourne to catch up with my family and to check out a few cold water dive shops.

PORTLAND
Our first stop was Professional Diving Solutions in Portland, Vic, where Narelle showed us around their store. We were blown away by the size and what they have to offer. We put on a presentation on diving Lord Howe for their local divers and talked over a couple of beers and pizza in their fantastic little dive bar.

Narelle managed to convince me that 12 degrees wasn't all that cold and a 2 piece 7mm would be fine. So we went for a dive the following morning.
I must say it again! We had great conditions.. However when I jumped in.. to be honest I was on the verge of getting right back out! I even called to Tas DON’T DO IT! He just laughed and thought I was joking. I was freezing and have always had this theory that cold water diving just isn’t worth it.

Well was I wrong! We had a great dive, having never dived with kelp before. We saw many different things including massive fossilised shark’s teeth.
Narelle took me around showing me where to look and between the two of us we found about 20 or so. Tas got most of the dive on video and wasn’t able to collect many himself, he just claims mine!

The dive was well worth the initial hypothermia I was sure I had. Once you get down there, you get so excited over the many things you see and very focused on sharks teeth that you forget that you are diving Victoria in the middle of winter. Shark teeth found around Portland.

Many thanks to Narelle, Vaughn and their two gorgeous girls for their wonderful hospitality. Look out for Narelles article on Sharks teeth in the coming issue of Dive Log. And No we can’t tell you where to find the teeth. Sworn to secrecy!

We look forward to Narelle, Vaughn and their local divers from Professional diving solutions joining us over here for a dive trip in September 07. We have already planned that our next trip to Portland will be for much longer as Narelle tells us there are many more sights for us to explore! (In a dry suit – Tas) We can’t wait!

SYDNEY

Here in Sydney we managed to catch up with a few more fellow divers. Our first port of call was PRO DIVE City store where along with Mikey we arranged another presentation on diving Lord Howe. We were just amazed with the number of divers who turned up (well done Mikey). Mikey will be bringing a group of them out for a dive trip in December this year. There are a few seats available so hurry to book. Mikey from PRO DIVE Manly

NELSON BAY
Mikey managed to drag Tas out of bed at 3.30am for a dive at Nelson bay (no chance of me joining them at that time in the middle of winter). They tell me it was a fantastic trip and both assure me it is worth getting up for, I think next year they will just have to make it later in the day for me.

BEAR ISLAND
Here we picked up that crazy English girl Fiona Lignum (our divemaster from last season) and were lucky enough to join Margret Crooks Saturday morning dive group. They were such a great group of very passionate divers.
Marg organised gear for us all courtesy of Frog Dive and took us to Bear Island. Here I was very impressed to see my first weedy sea dragon and Tas was ecstatic to see a Red Indian fish.
Botany Bay is a great place for a weekend dive, the coffee with dive buddies after just makes it all the better.

Our thanks to Marg for getting us all organised and the helpful members of her group, not to mention Frog dive for lending the dive gear to Marg on our behalf. Can’t wait to see you back on the Island for our photo comp!

DRUMMOYNE

Next we were off to PRO DIVE Drummoyne to catch up with Karen and attend their (very well organised I must say) club night. What a great night it was, we met so many different people including the much spoken of Brad Greentree. It was great to catch up with Karen we only wish we could have stayed longer.
We look forward to having Karen back on the Island with her PRO DIVE Drummoyne dive group on the 18th Feb, 07 to help us fight to hold on to our Lord Howe Island tug of war championship trophy that her group helped us to win on her last dive trip.
SHELLY BEACH
Here we were led astray by the infamous Down under Dave Thomas with a dive at Sydney’s Shelly beach. Yet another great dive with yes! Perfect dive conditions. I have heard so much about Shelly beach from all of our Sydney divers that I just had to dive it!
There were endless wobbegong sharks, groper and yes a motorbike standing upright. I just couldn’t help myself, I had to pose for the camera and jump on for a ride (we had such a laugh). Tas was very impressed with the size of one of the Dusky Flathead, it was at least 3 1/2 feet long!

After a relaxing dive we enjoyed a long lunch with lots of talk of diving with Dave. Tanks! once again Dave, we look forward to seeing you over here next year for our photo comp.

Well after such a great 2 months we have returned home for the exciting new season ahead of us.
We would like to say thank you to all of our friends and the wonderful people we have met over the past 2 months for their help in making our time on the mainland so much fun.

Thank you
Lauren and Tas