Diving the GBR: Lighthouse Bommie

 It is the 2^nd to last day of my 3 week stint on Spoilsport. The weather is amazing. A measly 5 to 10 knots of wind make for a flat ocean and some great diving. It is almost like jumping through a mirror. Your own reflection rushing towards the water. With a splash the mirror breaks. The shards turn out to be water that gently guide you into a mysterious world. A world that is more real, but no less strange or marvelous than Alice her Wonderland.

A tall pinnacle rising straight up from 25 to 5 mtrs next to a large mound which has its highest point around 18 mtrs create the frame for this dive.

The second I drop down I’m greeted by a very welcome sight. A large manta ray swoops past underneath me. It decides it doesn’t like the crowd and gracefully makes a U-turn before ‘flying’ away into the blue. It is the first manta ray I’ve seen this year and do a little happy dance to celebrate the occasion. I look over to my friend, he is doing the same. With a big smile on my face I continue downward.

As I circle the mound an olive sea snake takes an interest in me. I hold out my hand and he comes over to investigate. Cautiously he sniffs (licks) my hand, swims up my arm towards my face. I can see every little detail of this beautiful animal. The perfectly aligned scales, the black eyes, the little forked tongue flicking in and out of his mouth where he keeps one the most potent venoms in the world. He looks me straight in the eye and then leisurely swims off in search of something eatable. As my eyes follow the snake swimming off, they catch an amazing spectacle.

In the deeper water just off the mound a large school of big eye trevally seek safety in numbers. A large grey reef shark comes past and the trevally are visibly on edge. Then 4 or 5 brave individuals break free from the school and make quick dashes towards the sharks side and tail rubbing their bodies against its skin. They do this to clean themselves. It is like using a washcloth that can eat you if not careful. Some animals, like the big eye trevally, can be quite boring in an esthetic way but their behavior can by more fascinating than the most flamboyant nudibranch.

I get greeted by a 2^nd sea snake as I make way through a school of yellow striped snapper. The nervous eyes peer back at me as the school parts before and close behind me. For a moment the world only consists of yellow striped fish. When the rest of the world joins back in and I emerge from the school the pinnacle is right in front of me.

I start circling the lighthouse bommie and slowly make my way up to the top. Long nose hawk fish hide in bushy looking coral. Anthias and 3 spot damsel fish dart around on the pinnacle wall. Bushy and beautiful feather stars inhabit the top which they share a family of Clark’s anemone fish. This family in particular has 2 of the tiniest anemone fish I’ve ever seen. Probably the only fish that word cute can be used on.

The long white ‘feelers’ betray the presence of a pair of banded boxer shrimp hiding upside down under one of the many ledges. Juvenile emperor angelfish scurry away from the scary divers.

I reach the top and start my safety stop. Looking at the small critters below me and the bigger hunters, like sharks, barracuda, trevally and tuna in the blue surrounding this towering oasis of life.

It is 7.30 am, the ocean is like a mirror, the sun is out, the sky is a flawless blue and I had my first adventure before breakfast. What a way to start the day.