South Australia Marine Life Sampler, a Dive Trip on the M/V Rodney Fox

I recently joined friends for a 10-day dive trip on the M/V Rodney Fox in South Australia organized by Richard Salas. Richard organizes great trips and this one was no exception; we had a lot of fun and saw many new critters. The trip was intended to be a sampler offering a potpourri of locales and species and it delivered. A little flexibility was needed to work around some weather that was pushing up from the south, but in the end we managed to see all the things we hoped for. My flight connections were LAX / Brisbane / Adelaide / Port Lincoln and were uneventful.  I budgeted a few days in Port Lincoln to adjust to the time and let bags catch up if need be. Then it was off on the Rodney Fox, a 100′ (32m) steel-hull boat with 9 guest cabins, large dive deck, big galley and salon, and sundeck on top with a couple tenders.  I had a small cabin on the top deck and enjoyed looking out over the water from my bunk.

Australian Sea Lions

Our first stop the following morning was the Neptune Islands for some white shark cage diving, but once the cages were in the water we found that the south swells made that untenable. While disappointed, we adjusted and relocated to Grindal Island, home of a small colony of Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinearea). We spent some time freediving with them and I made a few images I’m happy with. This was a species I have wanted to see for many years, and they were as charming and elegant as I anticipated.  I’m already planning a 1-2 week return focused only on Australian sea lions.  They are special and among pinnipeds that I have met there are few who are as fun to be with in the water.

Kangaroo Island

Following our time with the sea lions at Grindal Island, we decided to make an overnight run for the north side of Kangaroo Island to get out of the south swell and wind.  Every good dive trip has at least one night of rock and roll swell where you need to sleep crossways on your bunk to keep from rolling onto the floor and this was the night. We awoke the next morning on the north coast of this sparsely-inhabited island.  Thus began several days of easy, pleasant diving at Kangaroo Island. The water was warm — about 66-67F which is toasty in a good wetsuit.  We usually dove at the foot of high seacliffs and the diving reminded me a little of the exploratory diving we did at Guadalupe Island in the 90s. The sea bottom was covered with dense, short, green- and gold-colored algae.  There were plenty of slots, swim-throughs and ledges to explore and a nice variety of fish species.  I found a few abalone shells and they were just different enough from the ones in California to make them interesting.  I spent most of these dives trying to get portraits of the more colorful of the local fish I could find.  I flew my drone a few times to show the boat anchored against the beautiful coastline. We hardly saw another boat, and the weather was super: sunny and warm, with reasonably clear water.  We dove exclusively from the tender and not off the main boat.

The Wreck of the Portland Maru

Included in our several days on the north coast of Kangaroo Island were a few dives on the Wreck of the Portland Maru.  The Portland Maru was a Japanese steam cargo ship built in 1919, 177m long and 5800 tons.  She was on her way from Port Lincoln to Japan in 1935 with a load of wheat and stuck a submerged object, eventually coming aground near Cape Borda on Kangaroo Island with no casualties.  The Portland Maru has disintegrated considerably over the years and is covered with lush algae, but still has some vertical relief including what I was told are the remains of the engine or boiler room, which is where I spent most of my time since that is where a variety of schooling fishes were to be found.  If I was to return to Kangaroo Island I would be happy making most of my dives here. The Cape Borda coastline is gorgeous with imposing gold cliffs, and the wreck lies right at the transition of a dark algae-covered seabottom into a white-sandy-bottom bay.  Most of the wreck is quite shallow so long, easy dives here are what we experienced.

More Kangaroo Island

Following our dives on the Portland Maru we motored further along the coast and anchored.  Sunrise the next morning broke over spectacular headlands, and we then landed on a white sand beach to enjoy a visit to Kangaroo Island itself.  We checked out a few national parks, including a stop at Remarkable Rocks which were, in fact, quite remarkable.  Back on the boat we motored further and spent one more full day diving Kangaroo Island’s north coast. Since we were in a region that had no real established dive spots, we flew the drone to help figure out what the reef structure looked like and where we ought to go diving.  They were good dives, shallow but with superb bottom terrain and relief and a lot of schooling fish on and in the reef structure. As we left Kangaroo Island I reflected on the fact we had jumped in the water at a number of spots that rarely if ever see divers, and that’s the kind of diving I really like to do.  During the evening we crossed over to the Yorke Peninsula west of Adelaide.

Of Jetties, Dragons and Ibuprofin

The next morning we awoke at the Edithburg Jetty on the Yorke Peninsula, one of the most famousest of all the jetties (piers) in South Australia, known for its incredible marine life on and under the pilings.  My back was killing me for some reason. It was drizzling and our spectacular weather seemed to have gone.  I bailed on the dives at Edithburg, began popping Ibuprofin, and did some gentle yoga in my tiny room. Good thing I bailed as others reported the water visibility was awful.  Folks were a little dismayed as “the Edith” was one of the places we had hoped to see Leafy Sea Dragons which, for several of the group, was the creature they wanted to see on this trip more than any other.  I think just one sea dragon was found at Edithburg, but just a few people.  I was bummed and thought that might be it for my diving this trip.

After that blah day we sought to break the jinx and get back into some good water and weather, so we departed for the Fleurieu Peninsula to the east and Rapid Bay, home to Rapid Bay Jetty.  And lo-and-behold we found ourselves with great water and weather again.  My back had improved enough that I decided to try diving if the crew would toss my tank in the water and I would don it there to minimize the stress on the old spine. It worked and I was so grateful to be back in the water again.  We spent two days diving the Rapid Bay Jetty and everyone managed to find Leafy Sea Dragons (Phycodurus eques) with the help of crew including a couple who drove down from Adelaide to join us. They basically knew where every leafy under the pier hangs out. Locals rule.  I’m not a critter photographer and didn’t even bring a macro lens but I decided to give it my best shot with my 35mm lens.  Also, I wanted to see if I could find some leafies on my own, no compass, no slate, no directions, just drop in and go look. So on the last two dives I asked if I could be dropped by myself at the end of the pier, at which time I set out slowly moving from piling to piling, wide-eyed and sipping the air in my tank. I found at least three different ones and gave myself a pat on the back and a gold star at the end of the day.  There are many interesting critters under the Rapid Bay Jetty and a diver could make a career out of studying and photographing them all. It really is one of the world’s top dives in spite of its rather derelict and utilitarian appearance.  I can’t wait to return and spend a few days more there.

Great White Sharks

We left Rapid Bay for the South Neptune Islands in the late afternoon and had an uneventful overnight crossing. I was out on deck early the next morning and treated to a nice sunrise over the low, seemingly unexceptional pair of small islands.  In went the cages and the burley (chum) began to be dispersed. Soon the exceptional nature of these islands became evident as we had a shark or two around the boat within minutes and at least one remained around the boat all day. The Neptune Islands are where great white shark cage diving originated (with Rodney Fox) and, as of this writing, is the only place in the world where it actively occurs with success (South Africa’s sharks have been run off by killer whales, and Mexico has closed Guadalupe Island to all diving).  During the day everyone that wanted to was able to make a couple cage dives in the “submerged cage” which was lowered to about 70′. The water at depth was clear and blue.  There was a lot of wind and the boat would slowly swing on the anchor 90 degrees or more which meant the submerged cage sailed over the ocean bottom. It was a really neat sensation and I would love to repeat it, perhaps on a future trip on the boat for just sharks.  As we swung under the boat 70′ deep and 20′ above the bottom we occasionally would have a shark come close enough to the cage for a photo or two, and I eeked out some images on my first submerged cage attempt.  None on the second though. The crew was impressive. Cage diving is the bread-and-butter of the M/V Rodney Fox and it showed, they had us rotating in/out for our submerged dives like clockwork.

The surface cage was turbid, rocking and rolling in the swell and as the boat swung, with lots of bubbles and chum.  But we had a young shark that was repeatedly passing very close to the cage. I spent as much time in the surface cage as my body would allow, 4-5 hours I think, even skipping lunch to stay in the water. I was usually alone in the cage which was a real treat since no matter how large a shark cage is its never large enough. At the end of the day I was zonked. It was a very fun day and I got lots of very close looks at beautiful sharks even if the photos are marginal.

Australian Sea Lions (Again)

At the end of our shark day at the South Neptune Islands we headed north in order to make one final stop at Grindal Island the following morning to visit the sea lions again.  There were fewer of us in the water and that may have been a good thing as the sea lions seemed more engaged and interested in us than before.  We were freediving again, but this time I had a pair of strobes so the images are a little different in feel compared to my earlier ones. We had a wonderful session with the sea lions and then motored back to Port Lincoln. We bid farewell to the M/V Rodney Fox and said our thanks to the captain and crew. And what a superb crew it was: they took very good care of us on the boat and in the water, made delicious healthy food in great amounts, and worked around the challenges of the weather to deliver the best trip ever. We had a surprise when we reached Adelaide: a wine and cheese reception with Andrew Fox and Mark Tozers at the Rodney Fox Shark Museum in Adelaide.  The museum is an impressive collection of diving history, vintage equipment, decades-old custom camera housings, spearfishing historical photos and guns, shark cages past and present, and even artifacts from wrecks like the Lusitania. It was a lot of fun.