|
Exmouth
The
drive up to Exmouth is a long one, the roads are good but the problem
is all the sheep, cows, and, at night, all the kangeroos in the road.
Kangeroos are the worst; they just jump out at you from nowhere then
often just stop in front of you and try and stare you out. It's the
same as the dazzled rabbit in the headlights, the only difference here
is about one and a half meters and a hundred kilos or so! Not only will
you kill the animal if you hit it, but you will also write off your
car and possibly yourself into the bargain.
I
never knew how big Australia is! It's strange because the amount of
people that told me it was huge still didn't prepare me for the immense
distances and the contrast. From rain forest to bush to desert to amazing
ocean drives along beautiful cliffs to mountain ranges to absolute nothingness.
It is also amazing that over 90% of the population live on the coast.
Or not so amazing when you actually wander inland a bit and realise
how inhospitable it is.
| ...when
I splash in, all the cold water rushes into my wet suit and I
am shocked with cold. |
Anyway,
Exmouth - a small community of about 2,700 people, 1,200km from Perth,
to the south, or Broome to the north - is fairly remote! It was established
as a US Navy base with an incredible antenna system that communicates
to vessels in the Indian Ocean. This array of antenna is so powerful
that the main control room can have absolutely nothing made of metal,
so that even the nails are made of wood. The Navy built a pier for their
ships and this pier has become the home to an amazing variety of fish.
The peninsula that Exmouth is located on has some rugged and beautiful
scenery in the Cape Range. Along the coast is one of the worlds largest
fringe reefs - over 250km long and packed with an amazing and beautiful
diversity of tropical fish, coral and other marine life. All this life
also attracts the larger animals, whales, 3 types of turtle and the
worlds biggest fish the whale shark that although a shark and growing
to a length that can exceed 15m, is completely harmless, preferring
to swim around open mouthed sifting plankton.
I am here to dive. I want to take my Divemaster course and who knows,
at some point maybe work as a dive guide, or even go further and become
a diving instructor. I have heard how incredible the diving is here
and so this is why I've made the long and painstaking drive from Kununura
on the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territories. I go
into Exmouth Dive Centre and inquire about the course, I have 3 weeks
to spare and although that is quick to do the Divemaster course they
tell me that it will be possible. I pay my $900 and take a huge amount
of reading matter back to my dorm. To pass this exam I will have to
study Physiology, Physics, Ocean Environment, Equipment maintenance
and more - phew!
I
start the course, and start to do some diving. The diving is amazing,
the first place we go to is the Navy Pier. It is boiling hot, over 40c,
but the water is not so warm, so we don our full length wet suits and
start to swelter in the heat. It is a 10ft or more jump from the bottom
of the pier into the water - a long way, especially with all the gear
on - and when I splash in, all the cold water rushes into my wet suit
and I am shocked with cold. Still, doesn't take too long to get a bit
warmer, especially with the sudden cold making me feel the need to relieve
myself - a sure way of getting a bit of heat inside the wet suit!
| ...mouth
full of tiny sharp teeth opening & closing as I watch from
a few inches away... |
We
descend to about 12m, the water is a little murky but with visibility
around 8-10m. I look around and there in front of me is this pair of
beautiful Lion fish. Incredible, they are about 20cms long, reddish
brown and white stripes along their bodies and these amazing finned
spines projecting from its side fins and from its back, reaching out
the same length as it's body. This beauty is deceiving; one prick from
those highly venomous spines can leave you incapacitated and needing
urgent medical attention. Not that they will try and hurt you unless
you try to capture them. Like most venomous or 'dangerous' creatures,
they will not harm you unless you give them a good reason. They just
hang in the water, virtually motionless, it is a beautiful sight, a
reminder that the underwater world is like a completely different planet
to the dry one that we normally never see past. The creatures here have
adapted to a completely different environment and I feel lucky once
more to be able to be here, experiencing this beauty.
Throughout
the rest of the dive, and also in future dives here, I see camouflaged
Wobbegong sharks, bits of flesh protruding from their flat mouths like
they have just eaten spaghetti and not wiped their chin! I see schools
of giant Trevally, flashing silver as they move and turn, schools of
hungry looking barracudas, sharp teeth visible from their open mouths
as they seem to look at you and wonder what you taste like. I see moray
eels, peering out from their holes in the rocks, mouth full of tiny
sharp teeth opening & closing as I watch from a few inches away,
aware that they are strong and could rip my flesh off, but that they
really are just curious and unafraid, only opening their mouths in order
to breath.
I
swim over part of the structure of the pier, just a meter or so from
the bottom and then descend again towards the sand, only the sand doesn't
look right, it's black and it's smooth. I look left and right, more
black smoothness. And then I see a big eye and realise what this is.
It is a huge Bull Ray, a type of stingray. It must be 2m across. I quickly
ascend a little and move away from it knowing full well that a flick
of it's tail could leave a nasty hole through whatever part of me its
spike happens to hit. I know that this is again highly unlikely as they
are very placid creatures. I spend some time marveling at this creature
that when swimming looks like it is flying, effortlessly 'flapping'
it's massive wings.
I
see so many beautiful tropical fish in Exmouth. On one dive I was guiding
a customer, she was looking down at a Stonefish sitting on one of the
pillars, almost impossible to see to, only given away by a 'thought'
that something does not look right as you are looking around. Closer
inspection reveals an eye, a mouth and then the shape of the fish. They
are masters of camouflage, changing colour and shade to match perfectly
with what they are lying on, they even have bits of flesh that stick
out to resemble algae. It is the same family as the lionfish and again
has poisonous spines - It pays to look carefully before touching anything
underwater. As my customer is looking at this, I look around and to
my right I see a dolphin, about 2 meters away, just stopped looking
at us, I get her attention and we watch as the dolphin remains motionless,
checking us out as we are checking it out. With a graceful flick of
it's tail it is away, but what a memory it leaves.
©Ian Picken 2004
 
|
