FathomOz

Underwater models of today might enjoy researching the films of Esther Williams.  Hollywood movies based around synchronized pool swimming were big in the 1950′s and no expense was spared in their production.  Esther was the queen of the era.

I spotted this poster at a town west of Townsville, Queensland called Ravenswood.   It was 1978 so the poster is unlikely to be still on display.

Gina Taylor (pictured) and I did presented our underwater film show in the local hall that night, just for fun.   The roll-up was surprisingly good for a ‘ghost town’, formerly a gold mining boom town.

A pair of hotels remained open, otherwise it’s worth a visit to see the main street with old shops with wooden footpaths, just like a Hollywood western movie.

After years of drought there was rain all along the east coast of Australia.  The sharks that were thought to be on the brink of extinction suddenly came back by the hundred.  The link between rainfall and sea life has not been studied, to my knowledge, at least not with shark populations.

Try counting the Grey nurse in this picture.  I think there could be 21.

Comment

“I believe that the Grey nurse is not a threatened shark, there are still many congregations of the sharks that the so called know-all’s don’t know about, certainly in the area where I live.  (North coast of New South Wales).

I have even seen a 7ft 6″ one that was caught in the lower section of the Clarence River and one that was caught in a trawler’s net just north of Yamba NSW on sand.

There are many places along the NSW coast that have not been dived on and would most certainly support the Grey Nurse shark. This is my belief and I stand to be correct.  I have swam and dived in the ocean for the last 40 years.  Geoff ‘Boots’ Towner 2 July 2010

‘Celebrity’ dive instructors were on this dive, Terry Morrison  pictured 2nd from left.  The tall guy is David Martin another instructor well known for his time at North Stradbroke Island and elsewhere.

View from Cook Island – looking north toward the Queensland border with New South Wales