December 31, 2006: Queensland, Australia

A New Years in Australia 2007 dive

"Lion's Den at Davie's Reef (Townsville)" - "The Maze at Davie's Reef (Townsville)" - "Geisha's Garden (Townsville)"

Diving off the northeast coast of Australia:

• Directions from Tampa: Um. Well, talk to a travel agent. It's in another hemisphere, no matter how you look at it ...
• Conditions on the day of my visit: Sunny
  
  
• Personal Notes: Again, I'll have to look at video. I do remember that there were Lion Fish on one site - go figure, considering the name ...
  
  A midnight dive was offered but due to the threat of the next morning being an early one, there was little to no drinking and no midnight dive.

Lion's Den at Davie's Reef (Townsville)
I'm guessing this is some kind of anemonie.
It was nice to see Lionfish about. I had seen only one before.
Here's another view of him.
There were lots of fish.
And the coral was colorful and healthy.
The Maze at Davie's Reef (Townsville)
Hermit Crabs seem so clumsy sometimes, but then you find them perched in the most surprising places.
Some kind of soft coral, I think.
There's a blenny in this picture.
This Lizardfish had the ugliest teeth. But they don't move usually, so they're easy to photograph.
Another blenny perched on some coral.
Geisha's Garden (Townsville)
A couple of Christmas Tree Worms cooperating by not withdrawing their gills.
This Blenny knows I'm there. And I know he knows I'm there.
This female Spine Cheek Anemoniefish was not very happy about me sticking a camera in her general direction. While it looks like a pose, she was very aggressive about displaying her size.
Some more soft coral.
I think this is a Coralimorph.
More coral.
This tiny Nudibranc was hard to shoot - but cute.
A basket star.
I'm not sure what kind of fish this was, and either I was scaring it or waking it up.
These shrimp are hard to get on film. Usually you see their eyes, but the minute the light hits them, they usually flee for the dark crevasses.
These crab don't like the light either.
I don't know what kind of fish this was. I think I only used my low power light on this guy since I didn't want to wake him up.
These Lionfish were heading for darker areas to sleep.