August 06, 2015 by dyertrust
Jacques Costeau once said the best way to observe a fish, is to become a fish and this is exactly how one feels while descending on this dive! As we dropped down beneath the water surface our line of sight was immediately consumed by the vast shoals of Yellowtail comrading together like foot soldiers rushing to battle. Cow nose sting rays elegantly swept in and out between them. Impressive Kobaljeu and Spotted Grunter moved stealthily so as not to get in the way, whilst cartoon like Musselcracker or Poenskop hovered in their own little worlds. Every fish had its rank and knew its place. As we looked carefully on the floor, tiny nudibranchs hid themselves perfectly camouflaged amongst boulders. It truly was an enlivening experience. Glancing out the window at the children’s faces was equally as magical, to see their sheer bewilderment- from the perspective of the creatures swimming in front of them. It was a surreal juxtaposition to be the human intertwined in the world of a captive fish which we found very entertaining! Nicole beamed from ear to ear whilst waving excitedly at us through the window. We waved back, and noted her expression change as the silhouettes of two large Ragged tooth sharks approached us.
The Ragged tooth shark (Carcharias taurus) is quite different to the Great White. I like to describe them as the Jimmy Nail of the shark world (Jimmy Nail was the guy who sang the 90s hit crocodile shoes. My mum used to say he’s so ugly he’s attractive!). Raggies have an undue menacing appearance with their small beady eyes and snaggle like teeth. Pre 1990s fishermen targeted the species as they were perceived maneaters throughout much of their distribution.