For those wot don't know, the subject matter doesn't refer to the Biblical
character, but instead to Noah's Arks = sharks!  :-)

Julian's just arrived back in Oz from a couple of months in the UK.  This
morning we went diving.  (Last week, I saw three large wobbegongs, the
biggest Port Jackson shark that I've ever seen, an eagle ray and a 2-metre
dusky whaler.  The visibility was down to 8-metres and because of its
colouration, I nearly bumped into the thing while it was enjoying breakfast
of a ludderick.  My presence obviously gave the shark a start!  It dropped
the ludderick head onto the sand in front of me.)  :-)

Today, thanks to the strong winds, there was a cold upwelling and clear
visibility of 20+ metres.  (The temperature was down to 17 deg. C. - three
degrees less than last week )  A lot of comb jellies and salps in the
shallows and lots of gobies.

Normally buried in the sand, we discovered a large numb ray sheltering under
a rock ledge.  I tried to get Julian to give it a prod with his finger, but
he wouldn't play! <bwg>    Both last week and this, several large
porcupinefish have marked out a territory for themselves close to a rock
wall.  We would have spent more time studying them, but the first of the
whaler sharks chose that moment to put in an appearance.  :-)

Further on we saw two big wobbbegongs, one of which was decidedly frisky,
(and given their recent penchant for attacking divers groins we left them
alone.)  After playing with a couple of octopus and swimming among schools
of seapike and yellowtail, I happened to glance to my left.  A short
distance away, a 2-metre long Whaler shark was swimming along with us.  It
maintained station for a while before zipping off.  We saw two more that
were slightly smaller a little further on.  It would seem that these
juveniles might be the offspring of the colony that took up residence in
Cabbage Tree Bay earlier this year.  They're exciting to see.  So much so
that we almost didn't pay attention to the squid!  :-)

Hopefully, they'll still be around for the next week, when Huw Porter's in
town for a brief visit - and the obligatory dive!  :-))

Strike