Health of the Great Astrolabe Reef, Kadavu, Fiji

Health of the Great Astrolabe Reef

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Dates:
31^st May - 7^th June 2005

Reef type:
The Great Astrolabe Reef (GAR) consists of two barrier reefs and a lagoon structure with several islands - including Ono Island - inside the lagoon. Kadavu is the biggest island in the area, with a fringing reef surrounding it.

There are fringing reefs around all the islands and patchy reef bommies close by. The eastern windward barrier reef breaks up at just a few passages to the open sea. The western leeward barrier reef is broken up more by passages, channels and stretches of bommie complexes.

Only one nautical mile north of the GAR lies the smaller “North Astrolabe Reef” (NAR). It is an atoll of 4 nautical miles diameter.

Vitareef data was collected inside the lagoon on coral bommies next to the fringing reef on the north west side of Ono as well as on the outside of the western barrier reef at a bommie complex system (Alacrity Rocks). We also ran transects at this outside study site. Observational dives were made at different locations all around the Great Astrolabe Reef including the eastern (windward) side.

Read full report here Great Astrolabe Reef, Kadavu, Fiji

The Manta Dance

The Manta Dance

So another breakfast we are served 'happy diver muffins' with eggs and 'maybe might see Manta toast'.

Myself and Sadie and Matt from Guam and Mark from Brisbane head out to Manta Reef for our morning dives. The 40 minute drive to this dive site is scattered with flying fish and a few yellow fin to keep us entertained. We drop down to 18m and move slowly across this flat topped coral bed that slowly undulates into two small but rather wide sea mounts.

This the Manta feeding site! So I begin the Manta dance, the calling of the mantas, the most hypnotically alluring dance, Yeah right! So it doesnt work, No Manta's in sight!

Soon the four of us are dancing, if you can call it that. Matt spots a swim through and signals that he's gonna take a look, him and Mark head down while myself and Sadie cruise over the top, a beautiful school of baracuda are waiting for us on the other side and as Matt fumbles with his camera to get a good shot, out of no where emerges our dancing partner - shiny, so graceful, black polished back with a gleaming white belly, slowly cruising, putting our dance to shame.

Our mouths are wide open just like the Mantas, except he is feeding and we are in awe of this beautiful creature. And soon another and another. It doesn't get much better then this!

Kate the Kiwi Diving Instructor at Mad Fish Dive Centre

Fiji and Tuvalu Diving Report on Matava Resort on 2003/02

Matava is a wonderful, remote getaway where the people will make you feel welcome like family.  The food will more than satisfy.  And the setting is lovely.   If you are ok without air conditioning, and don't mind fairly
basic accommodations, this could be the place for you.  Throw the diving on top of it all, and you have a fairly inexpensive dive vacation that feeds your soul.  You may never want to leave, as some of our group felt when it
came time to depart. 

Undercurrent Diving Report on Matava Resort

Face of Australia

Vote now to help Josh Jensen to become the Face of Australia and light up diving in Australia for the viewers of The Underwater Channel!

We invited ace Aussie divers to submit video showreels pitching for the role and six semi-finalists have now been selected from the candidates.

Josh Jensen

Vote for Josh!

Qualifications: Marine Biologist; PADI Dive Instructor

Base: Tewantin, 150 kms north of Brisbane

Occupation: 10 years fulltime work in the dive industry travelling the world. Underwater cameraman owning his own underwater imaging business with his dive partner wife.

Pitch: I’m passionate about the underwater world and have brilliant contacts, in-depth knowledge and experience of the area. I have more than a year’s worth of story ideas for UWC and enjoy talking about anything relating to the underwater world.

Vote for Josh!

Swimming With Sharks: Shark Allies - Commercial Conservation

Shark Allies - Commercial Conservation

As a long running theme here at this blog we have advocated for commercial shark diving involvement and leadership in conservation efforts.

Last week we got the following email and announcement from Stefanie Brendl, owner of Hawaiian Shark Encounters.

Shark conservation, outreach, and education is best served by the front line operators in the region.

Welcome to the new conservation website Shark Allies and Kudos to the guys in Hawaii for dreaming this up:

Hi Guys,

At last, our non-profit "Shark Allies" is getting off the ground. We have been tinkering around with websites and organizational stuff, but at last, we are going official. We have a booth at the Ocean Expo in Oahu this weekend where we will hand out a lot of info, introduce our first three projects, have some petitions to sign and hopefully get some members and volunteers.

Our first projects are:

A) Supporting and expanding the Marine Science Program at Waialua High School. We gave them money from Shark Encounters last year so they could start. The students love it and it has been very successful. They need more money to expand it so more students can sign up.

B)Supporting research for the study of the movement of sharks in the Hawaiian islands. Shark Encounters has been supporting a tagging project done by the Shark Lab of UH for two years that has given us a lot of new data for Galapagos and Sandbar sharks. We want to expand it to tiger sharks and beyond the North Shore.

C) Shark Fin legislation in Hawaii. Right now Sharks have to be landed whole, but it is not illegal to bring in or transship fins. So containers packed with fins still come into Hawaii.

We want to work towards a ban on all shark fin products in Hawaii.

This is a very small and humble start, keeping it local at first. But hopefully it can grow into an organization that can make a difference beyond Hawaii.

Thanks,

Stefanie

SharkAllies.org

Underwater Thrills:Swimming With Sharks: Shark Allies - Commercial Conservation

Missing Home

So every time I see this spectacular coloured tropical species I get a sudden rush of adrenaline and instinctively start sizing up the prey. I then quickly remember that I'm in Fiji not New Zealand and not undergoing the typical NZ cray hunt (which I have to admit I do miss).

So instead I just have to hover motionlesly staring at this beautiful creatures painted form, decievingly delicate looking features and strong well developed front legs.

In fact after spending so much time watching these fellows I don't know if I can bring myself back to the hunt that Im so used to at home.

Kate the Kiwi Diving Instructor at Mad Fish Dive Centre

The Day I met Bella and Rupert

So it took me a while for my eye to adjust to the fact that the reef was not just a blur of color but was actually made up of individual living things. It as my first dive in Fiji where I saw them.

Never have I seen this marvel of  nature anywhere else, New Zealand could boast some wonderful creatures but none like this tiny perfectly painted shell-less molusc. And it instantly became my favourite - The Nudibranch.

From the Family Chromodorididae it took me some time to distinguish nudibranchs clearly from the flatworms which also frequent the reef. This tiny creature is intricate with colors that just amaze me.

So I began searching for them on every dive, the divemasters here, Mas, Jone and Jo definitly had developed their eye to find them and could spot one a good few meters away.

I'd thought I had seen them all, but today I found my favourite. With a light pink skirt and black stripes following the perfectly formed frame, I called them Bella and Rupert.

Now i'm sure there is many scientific experts on the subject of Nudibranchs that could identify classes and subclasses of these creatures on fine anatomical features. But all I can say (without sounding too girly) is that they are so pretty.

Kate the Kiwi Diving Instructor at Mad Fish Dive Centre