More Whale Pictures

One of the Divemasters on the Poseidon boat took these pictures on my last day of diving. He just emailed them to me.

Ben's Underwater Photos

All of the underwater photos in my previous Great Barrier Reef posts were taken by a professional photographer employed by Poseidon, the boat we took on the last day. These photos were taken by Ben and his brother Peter. Enjoy.

Aristocat is the diving company we used on the second day. It had the nicest boat, but I think Poseidon was the better run operation, particularly for divers.
Here I am making my descent.Ben and I were buddies on most dives.A Moray Eel hiding under some coral on the bottom.A couple pictures of a Cuttlefish -- one weird looking fish.
A Green Sea Turtle.A Spotted Eagle Ray.A Trumpetfish.
A Clownfish.
Look how clear the water is.

The Great Barrier Reef - Day 4 - Humpback Whale Breaches the Surface

On Friday, even though I had already made 8 dives, I still wanted more, so I went again with Poseidon (by far the best operator of the 3 we used) to the Agincourt Reef. We went to the following 3 sites: Barracuda, Castle and Trigger. This day was great because I saw more fish than the other days. There were several schools of Barracuda at the first site and many Triggerfish at the last site. I also saw a Green Sea Turtle, a Whitetip Reef Shark sleeping on the bottom, some Clownfish (Nemo), a huge Potato Cod (or a type of Grouper, depending on who you ask) named Daisy, and some Lionfish. After the second dive, there was more Whale action. This time, a Humpback jumped completely out of the water and did a twist. I saw a dozen different whales during the course of the day.

This is Daisy, a Potato Cod that hangs around the Castle dive site. She is very comfortable with the boat's photographger and will basically pose for him to take pictures. Here is the Green Sea Turtle we saw at the Castle dive site. Here is the Humpback Whale that visited the boat after lunch.

The Great Barrier Reef - Day 3 - Swimming with Minke Whales

On Thursday, Ben, Pete, and I went SCUBA diving again. This time, Harmony and Ben's mom and dad joined us for the trip and went snorkeling. We used a company called Poseidon and again went to the Agincourt Reef and did 3 dives at 3 different sites -- North Bay, Phil's and Harry's. We saw some Barracuda, more Whitetip Reef Sharks, and 3 Cuttlefish.

The most amazing part of the trip happened after we finished our second dive. While boarding the boat, someone yelled that there were Whales off the bow. We quickly grabbed our snorkel gear and jumped back in the water. We got to snorkel with Minke Whales for a good 20+ minutes. There were about 6 of us in the water and the whales came to within 20 feet of us. It was amazing.We also saw a few Humpback Whales on the way home.
Here are some Clownfish.Here is a Stingray.Here is a Whitetip Reef Shark.

The Great Barrier Reef - Day 2 - Watching Humpback Whales

On Tuesday, we moved from Kewarra in Cains to Thala Beach Resort outside Port Douglas. On Wednesday, Ben, Peter, and I went SCUBA diving with Aristocat, a dive company out of Port Douglas. We traveled to the Agincourt Reef section of the Great Barrier Reef and did 3 dives from 3 different dites, Nobodies, Totem, and Gone Again. Erin was our Diving guide. We saw some nice Whitetip Reef Sharks, Eagle Rays, and other fish. During the first dive, we heard a lot of Whale Sounds, but never actually saw one. It was pretty neat hearing Whales while in the water. On the way back to Port Douglas, we actually spotted a couple of Humpback Whales. They were swimming just alongside the boat.