February 22 - Australia: Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
$#$^!(%# anchor! I don't think I could ever get used to the loud sound of metal clanging against metal! Following soon after the anchor ruckus was Nao's cheerful "Wakey! Wakey! Dive time!!" and we all emerged from our cabins.
We got to Cod Hole early to do our two dives. Cod Hole is a famous sight on the Great Barrier Reef because of the massive Potato Cods (epinephelus tukula) that hang out here. Unfortunately, the current was too strong for the first dive, so we waited about an hour and hoped the current would die down. No worries for me, as I planned on sitting out the first dive anyway. The second dive is the "Cod Feeding" trip, in which Nao will bring down feeder fish to feed the potato cod. And - ill or not - that's a dive I refuse to miss!
I went back to bed until it was time for the feeding trip.
Dive #1: Cod Hole (Ribbon Reef #10)
Depth: 17.3 meters
Bottom Time: 63 minutes (8:41AM - 9:44AM)
Visibility: 15 meters
Jon dove with Dan and Arthur through the site. From his dive log, this is what he has to say: "Saw several cod. Got a picture of one staring me directly in the face from about three inches away."
Jon and His New Friend
Some Pretty Coral
Dive #2: Cod Hole (Ribbon Reef #10)
Depth: 17 meters
Bottom Time: 71 minutes (10:43AM - 11:54AM)
Visibility: 15 meters
For this dive, we all descended as a group and followed Nao along the dive sight as she towed a container full of fish. One by one, these MASSIVE potato cods emerged from the reefs. And I mean MASSIVE!! Some of them were 5-6 feet long. And they looked hungry. They followed Nao along the reefs, nudging us out of the way sometimes so they could get closer to her. We finally ended up in a sandy patch, where she motioned to us to sit semi-circle around her and an arm's length away from each other. We'd been instructed last night to sit still and not move our arms around, so the cod won't get confused. Believe me, once you see the size of the things you're not inclined to draw attention to yourself. Nao was in the middle of the semi-circle, swarmed by red snapper and at least six potato cods that looked like they could eat her whole. But it didn't seem to bother her in the least.
Nao, swarmed by red snapper and one of the potato cods (the huge spotted fish)
Then - one by one - she walked around the semi-circle and stopped in front of each of us to feed one of the cods a fish. Jon and I were at the opposite end of the circle from where she started, so we were last. It was my turn before Jon's, and I sat there and watched as Nao pulled out a feeder fish and held it in front of my mask for the nearest potato cod. Next thing I knew - WACK!!!!!!!! The cod went for the fish and followed through with a wallop to my forehead. Almost knocked my mask clear off me. I felt as though I'd been punched out. I think I even saw stars. Obviously, Nao hadn't intended for this to happen and was very concerned that I'd been hurt. But I gave her the OK sign and waved her on.
Me, recovering from my fight with a potato cod. The spotted thing in front of me is the back of one of the cods.
Nothing like a 150-pound fish in your face to wake you up in the morning.
After my turn, Nao moved on to Jon. Luckily, he didn't have to get violent with the fishies. I had a prime spot for a picture, but then one of the snappers had to be a ham and squeeze into the photo. Film hog.
Jon on the left (behind the snapper), Potato Cod on the right, and Nao in the background.
This potato cod was about as big as Jon.
Then Nao went around the circle a second time. This time around, I didn't get knocked out by the cod. (Good thing too, because I was spoiling for a fight). But you can tell by this picture that my instincts were to move back as far as humanly possible:
You can never be too sure.
After Nao had passed the circle twice, she gave us the "all done" signal and Jon, Dan, and I swam on to "Shark Alley". Here, we found a white tipped reef shark sleeping in the sand. Unfortunately, the rest of the group was right behind us and all the commotion annoyed the shark so it swam away. Jon got a good shot of it before it disappeared, though.
The shark, annoyed at having his nap disturbed
Dan, Jon and I swam on for a while further along the reef wall. We'd lost the rest of the group as the three of us generally last the longest for air. Dan was happy snapping photos of little fish among the coral, and Jon and I were happy going slowly and enjoying the scenery. On our way back, Jon and I wandered into a very small cave/alcove in the reef.
Me Entering the Cave
Immediately after the cave, we found the shark again. This time, sleeping peacefully on the sand. I decided that I wanted to get a photo of him sleeping instead of swimming. So I stealthily snuck around the coral and inched my way up to him to snap a photo. Well, I guess "stealth" is the wrong word because the shark knew where I was the whole time. They are very attuned to diver bubbles and usually race away as soon as they hear us coming. So when I was about three feet away, the shark looked up at me and gave me an annoyed look. As if to say, "Gimme a break. What's a shark gotta do to catch a nap around here?" Then he promptly flipped around and faced the opposite direction. I assume, in shark etiquette, that's the same as giving me the finger. So I snapped the photo and we moved along, leaving my sleepy friend in peace.
My "Stealth" Shark Photo
Back on the boat, we had tacos for lunch and sat around laughing about the morning's antics with the potato cod.
Dive #3: Dynamite Pass (Ribbon Reef #10)
Depth: 15.2 meters
Bottom Time: 71 minutes (1:46PM - 2:57PM)
Visibility: 15 meters
Dynamite Pass was another drift dive. Ian backed the boat up to the reef and we all quickly jumped in before the boat got too close to the wall. Dan, Jon and I waited until most of the group had gone ahead, and we descended. There was a shark beneath us just as we descended, but that was the biggest fish we saw the whole dive. Despite that, it was a lovely trip. There was a bit of a current, and we allowed ourselves to be carried along the wall by the water. We barely kicked at all. Quite a few times, I had my legs and arms crossed and just let myself float at a particular depth as the current gave me the tour of the reef. It was a very relaxing dive and we were happy with the coral and the fish.
We finished up our last roll of film on the morning's dive, so no more underwater pictures!
When we ascended, The Nimrod was still pretty far away. Obviously we should have kicked a bit more to get closer to the boat, but we hadn't known where it would moor. So Nao came to get us in the tender and we gave her our gear and climbed into the tender for a ride in. Back at the boat, some of the group was snorkeling with a large Maori Wrasse which was feeling very sociable.
Dive #4: Snake Pit (Between Ribbon Reef #10 and Lizard Island)
Depth: 13.4 meters
Bottom Time: 51 minutes (4:25PM - 5:16PM)
Visibility: 10 meters
The Snake Pit was an OK dive that ended kind of poorly. The visibility wasn't so good and there wasn't an awful lot to see. But then again, it will be hard to beat this morning's potato cod feed. After a half hour of rounding the same two bommies with the rest of the group, Jon, Dan and I decided to explore one of the side reefs. We hung out around a flat reef for a while, but then decided to head back to the bommies. Just as I was trying to catch Jon's attention to give him the "turn-around" signal, I saw a MONSTROUS shark swimming a few feet below him. Then it disappeared into the poor visibility. It definitely wasn't a white-tipped reef shark. This one was a light color and was almost as big as Jon. White-tips are dark and don't grow to be that big. I got his attention and gave him the "shark" signal and moved my arms to indicate that it was bbiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggg. He was obviously laughing at me, but we hung around waiting to see if it would show up again. After a few minutes of waiting, we got a bit antsy and decided to move on again. As Dan and I swam forward, I turned around to check on Jon and saw him swimming quickly back.
He had seen two shark. One was a small white-tip, and the other was a HUGE something-or-other. Jon signaled as if to say that he had seen spots on the shark. A leopard shark? Here? Well, we hung out again to see if they would make another appearance.
And out of nowhere, I was seized with another underwater coughing fit. No big deal, I'd had them often throughout the past three days. I just cough through the regulator and continue on the dive. It never feels good on my throat, which already feels like sandpaper. But it's never been a problem. Unfortunately, this time I breathed in too quickly and something blocked my esophagus. Suddenly, I was unable to breathe except for a tiny wheeze that hardly filled my lungs. I was choking. I couldn't breathe, and I found myself beginning to panic. Instinctively, I wanted to kick to the surface to get air but I couldn't forget all my physiology studies of last week. If I surfaced quickly now, I would probably get the bends.
For whatever reason, Jon turned around and looked at me and I motioned frantically at him. He swam up and took my hand, having no idea what was wrong. He signaled to me to breathe slowly, and I shook my head trying to tell him that I couldn't breathe at all. In the back of my mind, I figured that I had two choices: (1) Kick to the surface and get the bends, or (2) Pass out from hypoxia underwater and hope for the best. Between Dive Master Dan and Jon , I figured that one of them should be able to resuscitate me, so I went for option two. I had a vice grip on Jon's hand as I struggled to breathe, and finally managed to get enough air in my lungs to cough out. That partially cleared my airway and I was able to drag in more air to cough again. Finally, air! After I had taken some full, deep breaths and a few minutes to calm down, the three of us slowly swam to the mooring line for our safety stop.
And this, my children, is why you're not supposed to dive when you're ill.
Our Last Night On The Nimrod
Back on the boat, we cleaned up our gear and hit the showers. The crew lifted anchor and we moved the boat just off of Lizard Island. The sunset was absolutely beautiful, and Jon - in a moment of poetic photography - has chronicled the sunset process for all who are interested (click on this link).
Jon and Me - Sunset At Lizard Island
For dinner, we had Bar-B-Que chicken and champagne to celebrate our last night together. Jenny gave a little tribute to the crew and brought out her piéce de résistance - Baked Alaska. Wow. It was all very good.
We watched the video Ian had made of our trip, which was pretty cool but not quite enough for us to rationalize buying it. Even if it did have a good shot of me being taken out by a potato cod. My head was killing me, which could be because of any number of things. Possibly because I'm sick and haven't been doing anything to help fix that. Or because of a latent adrenaline rush from my choking episode this afternoon. But I like to think it's because I was head-butted by a 150-pound Potato Cod this morning. Makes for a better story.
As the video went on, I could feel myself getting sicker and sicker. The sneezing and sniffling just wouldn't let up. But I've no one to blame but myself, and I wouldn't go back and change a thing about this trip. Well, I might decide to do more dives instead of missing one each day. But that's in hindsight.