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Report on a Classic Destination: Australia's Coral Sea by Carl Roessler |
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Beginning in 1972, I had the great good fortune over a period of two decades to make twenty-nine ten-day cruises to the oceanic atolls of Australia’s Coral Sea. On a succession of live-aboards ranging from Coralita and Reef Explorer to Coral Princess, Hero and Elizabeth E II, we explored the Coral Sea paradises that lie far out to sea beyond the Great Barrier Reef. In the 1970s and 80s we cruised from Rockhampton and Townsville 300 miles across As the years went by, we explored other superb reefs in the Coral Sea such as Flinders, Diamond and Holmes before moving northward to Port Douglas for cruises to dive the Cod Hole and Pixie Pinnacle on the outer Great Barrier Reef and North Horn and other sites on Osprey Reef.
Remarkably, each of these massive oceanic atolls had completely distinctive dive sites which differed radically from each other. Marion Reef, for example, had dozens of skyscraper-sized coral towers rising up from the 200-foot depths of its lagoon to graze the limpid surface. Some of the most spectacular diving conditions I’ve ever seen occurred while soaring around these fabled pinnacles. In valleys carved through the huge formations, big cat sharks, nurse sharks and huge round sting rays lazily made their rounds between naps. Sea snakes were sleeping everywhere. It was a Paradise. At the North end of the atoll, a site we called Action Point delivered packs of gray sharks which swam around our baits like gray bullets.
On one occasion, a 15-foot hammerhead shark arrived just as I was cleaning up the wires at the feeding site.The divers returning to the boat looked down and thought this would be the end of me. The huge shark skidded to a stop, looking at me. I took his picture, and the strobe light startled him. He swam in a tight circle and came back to the same pose. Discretion being the better part of valor, I threw down the wire with the Diamond Reef had smaller pinnacles in the shallow areas of its lagoon, but its coral walls astounded us with vast arches, caverns and swim-throughs forming a labyrinth in the coral massif. Holmes didn’t have much coral development in the shallows, but further down on its deep flanks there were soft coral colonies bigger than a diver, and in a rainbow of colors—pink, yellow, burgundy—which we always had trouble leaving. There was always just one more beautiful angle to be shot! |
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Osprey
Reef
was
distinctive
for
a
series
of
crevices
in
its
outer
wall
which
were
swept
by
regular
tidal
currents.
In addition, one secret site had 20-foot trees of black coral and a wide meadow of huge soft coral trees stretching as far as we could see. Absolutely unforgettable! The northern tips of both Marion Reef (“Action Point”) and Osprey Reef (“North Horn”) were home to healthy populations of hungry sharks. I learned a lot about what happens when sharks swarm to feed, and I’ll never forget some of those maelstroms of flashing and darting gray bodies. |
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These amazing reefs are protected only by 200-300 miles of open ocean, or theywouldbeoverrunwithdivers. As it is, only a fortunate few ever get to dive these remote wonders. If you are a serious photographer, however—these are worth whatever it takes!...
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As
a
result
of
such
rich
and
concentrated
feeding,
the
walls
were
alive
with
hard
corals,
soft
corals
and
sponges
in
varied
colors—with
night
dives
featuring
hundreds
of
flashlight
fish
and
huge
nudibranchs.
On
one
memorable
occasion,
twenty
or
more
gray
sharks
decided
that
I
was
to
be
lunch,
and
I
only
escaped
The
Final
Chapter
by
bashing
shark-noses
with
both
big
camera
rigs
until
I
could
flatten
myself
against
the
coral
wall.
Memories,
indeed…