Photography by: Gary Bell
Publisher: Australian Geographic 2003

Australian fur seals Artocphalus pusillus

January:
Australian fur seal, Arctophalus pusillus, Bass Strait, Victoria.
Intrigued by their reflection in my camera dome, a pair of Australian fur seal pups stare into my lens for a brief moment, allowing me to capture their saucer-eyed expression. The rocky shores of the winter sea at Wilson’s Promontory are home to hundreds of Australian fur seals and their pups. Similar in appearance to the New Zealand fur seal, the Australian fur seal is a champion swimmer, reaching depths in excess of 130metres while searching for food.

Manta ray Manta birostris

February:
Manta Ray, Manta birostris, southern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.
On the edge of Heron Island reef, a manta ray—stretching perhaps 4 meters from wingtip to wingtip—glides overhead, silhouetted against the sun-drenched surface. Common in Australia’s tropical and warm temperate seas, these gentle giants are filter feeders, living on microscopic plankton. Mantas are the largest of all the rays with wingspans exceeding 9 metres.

Bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus

March:
Bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, Fiordland, New Zealand.
A pair of bottlenose dolphins appear as a surreal, ghost-like image against a swirling storm cloud perfectly mirrored on the surface of New Zealand’s Doubtful Sound. Curious of my presence on the bow of the boat, the dolphins check me out through a film of surface water and I can actually gaze into their eyes. Inquisitive by nature, bottlenose dolphins are renowned for approaching divers and swimmers.

Green sea turtle Chelonia mydas

April:
Green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, Coral Sea, off Queensland.
In the shallows of a remote sand cay near the Diamond Islets, 400 kilometres east off the Queensland coastline, reflected sand, water and the surface merge to create a soothing, mysterious “horizon”. But as I focus my lens, right on cur, a green sea turtle casually swims into the frame, putting itself in the picture. During Summer and autumn, huge numbers of green sea turtles come to these tiny isolated islets to nest.

Vortex of schooling jacks Caranx sexfasciatus and Chevron barracuda Sphyraena qenie

May:
Big-eye trevally, Caranx sexfasciatus, and Chevron barracuda, Sphyraena qenie, off Queensland.
I’m in the eye of a fish tornado as a vortex of countless chevron barracuda and big-eye trevally whirl all about me. As I explore this extraordinary event through the lens of my camera, I feel as if I’m being swallowed up some by some marine monster. Widespread in tropical waters of Australia barracuda and trevally are known for schooling in large numbers, but rarely together like this.

Round batfish Platax teira

June:
Round batfish, Platax teira, southern Barrier Reef, Queensland.
A trio of round batfish patrol the sun-spiked waters of the Great Barrier Reef at last light. I’m in fish heaven: the Heron Island bommie, where vast numbers of fish congregate and interact with divers, sharing the secrets of their everyday lives in what is an enormous natural tropical fish “aquarium”, but without the glass walls, The tall-fin batfish are a favourite with human visitors and are common in tropical and temperate seas of Australia, often seen in small groups such as this.

Diagonal-banded sweetlips Plectorhinchus lineatus

July:
Diagonal-banded sweetlips, Plectorhinchus lineatus, northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.
Like a swarm of bees, a school of diagonal-banded sweetlips engulfs the coral in 15meters of water at the “cod hole”, near Lizard Island, North Queensland. By day, these zebra-patterned fish are known for schooling in large numbers near overhands, ledges and caves. But at night, the separate and move out from the reef to feed on invertebrates and small fish.

Whale shark Rhincodon typus

August:
Whale shark, Rhincodon typus, North Cape, Western Australia.
My heart pounding, I gawk intently at a 10-metre whale shark cruising by like a majestic spaceship covered in brightly speckled camouflage, accompanied by a squadron of pilot fish. I am in the blue depths off North Cape, Western Australia where these oceanic giants migrate annually to feast on microscopic plankton, small crustaceans and schooling anchovies. While whale sharks are giants – they are the largest fish in the ocean – they feed only on the tiniest creatures.

Spinner dolphins Stenella longirostris

September:
Spinner dolphins, Stenella longirostris, Coral Sea, off Queensland.
In bursts of exuberant energy, the spinner dolphins torpedo past me just a couple of metres away to vanish into the hazy-blue back of beyond of the Coral Sea. My encounter over in a few seconds, I am stunned and wonder if I took any pictures. Spinner dolphins are generally shy creatures and, though common in the Reef and Coral Sea waters, tend to stay clear of divers, I feel very privileged.

Scuba diver underneath a crashing wave

October:
Underneath crashing wave, Coral Sea, off Queensland.
On the crest of an isolated bommie – a submerged coral reef – 400 kilometres off the Queensland coast, a rolling wave sets a dreamlike scene as it crashes on the surface above my wife, Meri, leaving behind a cotton-wool cloud. Waves are a life force on Reef, turning coral into sand, sand into islands and islands into habitat for birds, vegetation and many other life forms.

Great white shark Carcharodon carcharias

November:
Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, South Australia.
This awesome great white shark interrupts its languid cruise around waters off the South Neptune Islands, South Australia, to approach the back of my boat, my camera an object of its curiosity. Despite its formidable reputation, due in part to media sensationalism, there is still much to learn about its behaviour, ecology, migration patterns and range of activity. But one thing is known – its numbers are in decline; consequently, they have been declared an endangered species, being fully protected in Australian waters.

Scuba diver exploring Giant kelp forest Macrocystis pyrifera

December:
Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, Tasmania.
In the nutrient-rich waters off the Tasman Peninsula, luxuriant stands of giant kelp grow from the seabed 25 metres below, forming a tangled, weightless forest of astonishing beauty. As we fin through the tapestry of kelp into a hidden domain of amazing diversity, winter water temperatures remind me that we are in the Tasman Sea one of the few places in the world where the Giant kelp flourishes.

Text: Gary Bell
Photography: Gary Bell
Published: Australian Geographic - Australia 2003