FathomOz

We encountered wild Grey Reef sharks galore.  They even chewed on the diving platform.  It was unique action at the time.  Later we would realize that sharks elsewhere eventually settle down and adopt a different behavior.

At locations where no divers have been before you should expect territorial aggressive behavior.

Probably rare today and certainly not at dive resorts where sharks are virtually ‘trained’ and behave.

Film of those original encounters might be a surprise to many today.

Up top: Dr Don Ahern, JM Harding, Roy Bisson, Dr Colin Friendship, Liz Hen.

On the duckboard: John H Harding (with 16mm camera) , shark wrangler Dr Richard Ibara, Allan Murayama from Hawaii.

Valerie and Ron Taylor took this picture from their dinghy nearby.

Their 16mm film from the expedition featured (Taylor’s Innerspace) a search for the rare sea shell, a volute known to be found only here and worth thousands of dollars at the time.

However it was the shark action which proved more entertaining.

Shark wrangler and marine biologist, Richard Ibara used fish baits to attract sharks into the shallows.

In one scene we see where he grabs a live Grey Reef shark by the tail (when the shark had it’s mouth firmly secured to a fish) and hauled the shark onto a reef.

It remained there for a few moments, just long enough for this unusual film sequence to be recorded.  Kids seeing it in the cinemas.

Picture from “Australian Seafari” – a family film show in cinema’s which included The Chesterfield Reef Expedition.

The late Alby Ziebell, last owner-captain of Coralita

Hitchhiker was a temporary solution for Alby while a new boat, larger than Coralita was being built especially.  The outcome was not good.  The builder filed for bankruptcy and everything was lost.  A tragedy in many ways.

Alby was an excellent international charter boat skipper and diver.  His underwater photography in a short time equaled or surpassed the best.

Years of professional abalone diving in Tasmania gave him an edge in fine tuning and perfecting his business, with the help of wife Irene who ran the office.  A skilled diplomat for divers.

A plan to expand diving charter horizons to New Guinea waters was the beginning of the end…..

Coralita sank in Cairns Harbour just days before the first scheduled departure.  Nobody was injured.

August 11, 2010   Coralita was purchased as a wreck by Cocky Watkins of Cardwell for the price of one thousand dollars at auction, later temporarily renamed Alita then sold and renamed Bell Cay.

News item today indicates the vessel has come to grief in The Swain Reefs (250 km offshore) with over 20 people aboard.  All have been rescued after treading water for some time.

27 February 2011. Bell Cay is said (Ref. Alexander Muller, professional fisherman)  to have broken up and washed ashore in the Mackay area of the Queensland coast.

Trina Fleischmann, is a long time friend of film maker Ben Cropp

Princess Charlotte Bay (North Queensland, Australia) is a popular 4×4 destination for adventure seekers.  Ben Cropp calls in for a few days crabbing during his annual boating trips north from home base at Port Douglas, Queensland.  This large male ‘muddie’ was a star guest for his dinner table.

This year, aboard his new boat a much longer trip to the Kimberley region of Western Australia is currently underway.  This is the last true frontier of the Australian coast.  Big tides, lots of wild marine life and very few other boats to be seen.

Free diving ace of Darwin, Rick Trippe is schedule to join Ben’s expedition.

It was the last great fishing tournament held onshore at Cairns, North Queensland, Australia

The spectacle of a dozen big fish, each one weighing more than about 500 kg, being carried away on a truck to the rubbish tip shocked everyone – except probably the fishermen involved.

Big game fishing had earlier brought fame and fortune to the sleepy Queensland port of Cairns, beginning in the late 1960′s.

Black marlin fish had put Cairns on the international tourist charts.

During the early 1980′s the town rapidly began changing.  Old pubs torn down for international hotels.  Direct flights from USA and Japan.

Then the backpackers and cheap dive instruction.

Cairns is probably still worthwhile for a visit if you’ve not been there before.

I went there almost every year from 1967 until recently.  In the early days it was a three-day drive north from Brisbane on a road we called The Crystal Highway due to a broken windscreen every kilometer on the side of the road!

Cairns was unique in the old days with hippie communes in the rain forest hills and starfish eating the coral reef offshore.  Would the Great Barrier Reef disappear altogether – some wondered.

The Marlin Bar was the place to meet after work, and when Paul Kamsler’s Tradewinds Hotel-Motel was the best entertainment, food and accomodation in town and probably in the State.

In those days you might meet Hollywood celebrities like Lee Marvin or Director John Frankenheimer.   We were warned not to speak to Marvin – who was known to give a shaking to a guy in a wheelchair who annoyed him.

A genuine tough guy from WWII, and a regular fisherman at Cairns each year.

In time it would all change.  Big fish (black marlin) would be  caught, tagged and released but not kissed.

Someone is writing a book about those days, I learned this week.  These pictures were requested.

Several tigers sharks fed on a 1006 pound black marlin.  Location was the fabulous Ribbon Reef’s off Cooktown in North Queensland.  Shark in main picture was rushing at the pole camera to bite it.  Marlin jumping was recorded with the then ultimate –  sixty four frames per second sl0w mo.

Jocelyn E. (right picture) posed with a pair of the tigers later.  This was 1975 – just prior to a shark-hunting fever inspired by a Hollywood film whose title has already been mentioned to excess.

We were guests aboard Avalon – the former and famous charter fishing vessel based at Cairns.

(Click to enlarge)

Kalio became our guide and friend when we were doing a scientific survey on his island, a true atoll in the Eastern Caroline Islands.  (Federated States of Micronesia).

We have not located Kalio on Facebook, not yet, but we are exchanging notes with a younger former resident who remembers our visit – (arriving in a Grumman Hu-16 Albatross seaplane, see Fathom 1).

These pictures show Kalio free diving in front of his island home.  Water visibility a constant 200 feet and sea water temperature luke-warm.  The closest to a diving paradise I’ve experienced.  This was 1969 – dive gear was still traditional Polynesian.

Even so Kalio was reaching a depth close to 20 meters – without fins or snorkel.  The spear being used was a very light gauge and about 3.5 meters long with a single flopper – essential length for getting close to the tiny reef fish.

Our friend Ron Isbell took us to the northern side of Lady Musgrave Island.  Perfect conditions but with a lot of dead plankton or coral spawn on the surface.  It must be good food for manta rays.  There was a line of them swimming in rotation over perhaps one kilometer there and back.

How many?  A dozen – maybe as many as twenty.

What makes a good underwater model?  Christine Danaher is one of the best.  A diminutive figure is a good start although some scuba tanks can appear huge.   We have an extensive collection of Christine D. pictures and some excellent underwater 16mm film footage.

A loving attitude toward animals, especially underwater is another good point.  This helps to eliminate – or will eliminate fear.

A disposition that accepts certain discomforts – wet hair, cold water, rough sea and all the rest requires a tough girl.

The new additions to the world of underwater modeling are breath-hold free divers.  Nadine Werner (Germany) for example is reported to hold her breath while swimming/diving for a remarkable four minutes.

There is a stunning blonde Russian actress, still in her twenties who set a world depth record for free diving some years ago.  Check You Tube videos under “mermaids” for a host of lovelies with good lungs.

My mistake, this looks like Christine Danaher but is one of the pictures by our good friend (the late) Irvin Rockman, taken in New Guinea, featuring model Kirtley Leigh Paine. I should have spotted the difference with her wet suit.  It’s a fine picture – but not mine!!  The following picture is: