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| Diadema Reef. Click on photo to be taken to Flickr Underwater Sets |
Tuesday 31 July 2012
White Island
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| Diadema Reef, Click on Photo to be taken to Flickr Set |
White Island is a volcanic island some 50kms out from Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty, due to the open expanse of water and distances involved it can be a long time before you get suitable conditions to venture out. Finally after several months of cancellations the weather was looking good and the trip was a go.
We left Mt Maunganui Bridge Marina on Friday night, arriving several hours later in pitch black darkness at White Island's southern end, the wind was screaming in the bay that was assumed to be protected from the headwind, a bit of steaming around the corner and we found the spot for the night with one other vessel as our neighbor.
An early rise the next morning to a glorious sunny day and calm seas. After a hearty breakfast it was a short steam around to dive White Island Volkner Rocks.
Iain and Tony were keen to have their first real attempt a testing out the boats new sonar recording kit. Whenever traveling over interesting topography the sonar recording device would capture information presenting it on the laptop as 3d map, the more extensively an area was covered the greater the detail enabling you to build up a vast amount of detail over time. Worked great and you could confidently get a lay of the land for targeting areas on the next dive.
First dive up was Laisons Reef, this pinnacle rises up from 150 meters to 8 meters. A huge number of Blue and Pink Maomao.Next up Diadema Reef, Once again large popuilations of Blue and Pink Maomaos, lots of posing Scorpion fish and various moray eels.
The huge numbers of fish life and clarity of the water made for very enjoyable dives. A close watch on the bottom time was needed as the water was so clear it gave a false sense of depth on these pinnacles which rise from very deep water.
Due to the previous dives depths the next dive was in shallower water in a interesting looking area by Little Volkner, A large shallow reef system with undulating boulders with a few Kingfish making their way through various schooling fish. The boulders had a few resident Blue Mokis hanging about.
Three of us were keen to do a night dive, Patrick and I followed Steve's lead, due to his familiarity to the area, sure enough he had us on a nice little tour around the reef's edge to a cave, Apart from the normal suspects I managed to spot a hairy crab, some sort of fast moving mackerel, and some shrimps. On the way back just before ascending came across a plaque that was placed in memory of a diver who was lost in this area a few years back. A reminder about the fragility of ourselves in this alien environment.
The next day it was Homestead Reef, this would have been my highlight of the weekend due the variety of fish life and the large population of Blue Moki happy to let me hang out in their group.
The final dive for the day was Club Rocks before the long haul home. The suit up was interesting as the conditions had deteriorated big time with the howling wind having returned, driving the acidic sulphur from the volcanic plumes from White Island, fair enough Tony wasn't too keen to keep the boat exposed to these elements for too long. After the scattered divers returned to the boat it was time for the long haul home, I spent a large majority of the time at the stern attempting to capture the Bullers Mollymawk albatrosses that were following us back, Not too successful with a full card and the need to keep deleting shots to take the next shot. The birds were very obliging though with multiple flybys.
A great weekend and a thanks for Steve for persevering with the multiple cancellations to see the trip organization thru to the end.
Long Hours and no diving.
Wow a crazy last few months of 16 hour days so diving has unfortunately taken a backseat. Have finally got some breathing space so have edited some video clips. Hope you enjoy them.
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