Today I was in Mount Maunganui and had a super wee shore dive. My mission was to look for the discarded eggcases of the paper nautilus (Argonauta Nodosa and Argonauta Argo). The last time I dived the site the eggcases were everywhere and some were completely intact whilst others were shattered in pieces amongst the boulders. Unfortunately this dive was quite different because there wasn't even a trace of a paper nautilus eggcase anywhere.
Still, not all was lost. On the dive I encountered eagle rays that were very inquisitive about my presence and they kept on checking me out with a regular fly-past. The rocks at the deepest part of the dive were covered in clusters of squid eggs and skittish octopus looked out from the dark spaces between boulders. As I slowly ascended the white sands towards the beach a huge long-tailed stingray stopped me in my path. It lay on the bottom and stared at me with its large eyes. Normally I would have joined it on the sand but I was running out of time to be back on the surface for my wife to clock me in, so I ascended a bit and swam over the top of the beast. It never moved and its tail remained motionless as I swan further up the beach leaving it behind to bathe in the sun drenched water of the South Pacific Ocean.I felt really good after the dive. It was an awesome privilege to see all the different species of fish and marine animals in their own environment. :o)
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Photo Credit: Young, I.M., 2006 (September 20), Mount Maunganui beach. All rights reserved.
Photo Credit: Young, I.M., 2006 (September 20), The Mount. All rights reserved.
3 comments:
What a marvellous journal. Thanks for the insights.
I just wish that I'd been able to get some eggcases to photograph for the blog. Oh well, next time maybe. :o)
Sounds like a great dive! I like the pictures too. It's turning summer there and here it seems like it just rains....
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