Project 'Eye on the Sea' is also about adventure exploration and discovery, and we undertake regular mini-expeditions around NZ in search of weird and wonderful marine life to film, photograph, and write about…bringing these adventures to you on the web. These are dive expeditions with a purpose; -incorporating scientific research, boosting public awareness of our marine environment and promoting education. We are in touch with some of New Zealand's leading researchers on topics as varied as shark behaviour, reef fish distribution, and deep-water surveying using ROV technology. Some of these projects require special equipment, but when our budget doesn't allow for this we use a bit of kiwi ingenuity and innovate…designing and making our own equipment to meet the needs of the particular project, whether it be modifying camera, fabricating underwater lights, or building a shark cage! Via video and still-images, these mini-expeditions are aimed at increasing awareness of New Zealand's own rich and varied marine life, making environmental education more exciting and promoting a spirit of adventure and exploration….with SCUBA we have the means to comfortably explore an 'alien environment' teeming with incredible lifeforms and still largely unexplored, in fact our underwater landscape is less known today than our landmass was 100 years ago!

South Australia, 2002:

In late July we returned from a three weeks 'mini expedition' to South Australia where we had been filming and photographing the fascinating marine life to be found in this part of the world, -including the spectacular breeding aggregations of the Giant Cuttlefish.

Our first week was spent filming jetty life under the numerous wharves along the South Australia coast, and although there was an amazing variety of life to encounter in this 'strange' habitat, our main quarry was the state's national emblem, the elusive Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques).

Although difficult to spot amongst the weed, we did eventually find our seadragons and they were worth the search, possibly the most bizarre and 'improbable' looking creature I have yet seen, they looked as though they were propelled by tiny electric motors! These critters are very shy, have an aversion to bright lights and were difficult to film, so after getting a few still-images and some video footage we turned our attention to the rest of the jetty's abundant life.

Porcupine and puffer fish were common, and large schools of Old Wives (a black and white fish) drifted amongst the weedy jetty piling's, which were themselves thickly encrusted with bluebell tunicates, seasquirts anemones and sponges.
There were tiny Short-headed seahorses (Hippocampus breviceps), the occasional dumpy Anglerfish, and a variety of weird Spider crabs -well camouflaged by the sponge or weed stuck firmly to their backs with their sticky saliva! Water temperature was a bit cooler than in NZ -a chilly 110C, but our Oceandry drysuits kept us toasty even with dive times of 60-90-minutes!

In between diving around South Australia's capital of Adelaide, we caught up with Rodney Fox at his White shark museum to talk with him about white shark research in South Australia. Rodney has been diving with and filming white sharks since 1963 when he survived an attack off the SA coast, and together with son Andrew has a wealth of knowledge about this spectacular and much maligned species.

Travelling north and west of Adelaide in the second week we headed away for our main expedition goal; to film the breeding behaviour of Australia's Giant Cuttlefish in the shallow bays of the Upper Spencer Gulf.
Giant cuttlefish (Sepia apama) males can reach 1m in length and when in the midst of spawning ignore everything around them, putting on spectacular displays of pulsing colour and performing ritualised 'dances' to nearby males as they battle over the smaller females!

As soon as our heads were under the surface here we could see cuttlefish in every direction, from 20 cm juveniles up to 90 cm males. With all the displaying/ fighting/ pursuing and mating going on it was hard to know where to point the camera and what to film! This was a truly unique experience, these incredible creatures not the least bit bothered by our presence, allowed us right into the midst of the action!

Next on the agenda was a move south to Yorke Peninsula where there were new marine creatures to get aquaintanted with and a smorgasbord of historic wooden jetties to choose from. We weren't at all put off (well not much anyway!) by stories of the Great whites that frequent this part of the coast, or by the signs prohibiting the dumping of offal from the jetties!
Diving some of these jetties we were pleasantly surprised at the water clarity, up to 15m at times. We frequently encountered cephalopods of various types (particularly on night dives), ranging from miniature Dumpling squid with the incredible iridescent colours or 'pyjama stripes' through to large cuttlefish and strange elongated red octopus which attempted to evade our camera by burying themselves in the sand!

Impressively large spider crabs with long spindly legs spanning some 40-cm were common in this area, and there were also beautifully coloured (and apparently flavoured!) Blue crabs, and weird Sponge crabs (Austrodomidia octodentata) with bright orange eyes and carapaces planted with purple ascidians!
All in all it really was difficult to leave the water with so much to look at, although the chilly water temperature helped, -and after 90 minutes fingers became too numb to operate camera controls properly anyway!

Our available time up for South Australia it was time for us to make the long bus trip to Melbourne Victoria in search of images of the remaining species we were looking for; Weedy seadragons, Blue ringed octopus, and Blue devilfish.

Our base at Mornington peninsula overlooking Port Phillip Bay was a beautiful spot, and again we concentrated on the varied life found under the jetties in this part of Australia, starting with Flinders Pier. We were rapt to finally encounter the elusive Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) -the less ornate but more beautifully coloured of the two Seadragon species. The first individual we trailed for five minutes or so thinking it would be the only one we would see, but they turned out to be surprisingly abundant here and pretty soon we were seeing them all over the place, becoming blasé enough to begin looking for other marine life.
At one point what looked like a good sized piece of the jetty cruised past…one of the biggest Stingray I have ever seen…almost 2m across!

Another small pier on the peninsula provided us with some really interesting diving -despite the number of fishermen jockeying for position above water! Why they were there we couldn't figure out, as there was a complete absence of 'catchable' fish around the jetty! That didn't worry us however as there was more than enough other life to keep us engrossed for another 80 minute dive, including a grumpy Stargazer and the elusive, extremely pretty, and very poisonous Blue-ringed Octopus.
This deadly creature is a perfect example of 'size doesn't count', and although only around 15-cm long its bite injects toxins causing paralysis and respiratory arrest. Its distinctive electric-blue rings are only obvious when it is aroused, and contrast strongly with its 'gold' background colour to produce an effective warning display!

After all this shore diving we thought we had better do at least a couple of boat dives before leaving Australia, so headed around to Nepean Bay inside Port Phillip Heads with our friends from at Ocean Divers Melbourne to try for Blue Devilfish and Port Jackson or Wobbegong sharks.
Despite the strong surge in the shallow water of the bay we managed to explore some nice reef overhangs, and were rewarded with a pair of Blue Devilfish on our 'last chance dive'! These are probably the most beautifully coloured and ornate of any temperate water fish, and look like they would be more at home on a tropical reef.
Unfortunately the only shark species we saw on our trip was a sleepy Draughtsboard shark about 1m long, …still, that gives us a great excuse to get ourselves back to southern Australia on an 'Eye on the Sea Shark expedition' as soon as we can!

All in all our trip to Australia and first overseas 'Eye on the Sea mini-expedition' was a great success; we accomplished our goal of filming the Giant cuttlefish spawning aggregations -as well as recording and learning about many other interesting temperate water marine creatures of southern Australia.
Keep an eye on the website for our next 'mini-expedition' coming soon!

Many thanks to our hosts during this trip for their help and support, Warrick and Jane of 'Ocean Divers' in Melbourne, and John and Anne Wood of the Underwater Explores Club of South Australia

Ghost Nets

I don't know what your image of paradise is, but here on earth mine is a deep water reef, clear blue water and surrounded by big fish. As a Dive Instructor with Dive White, I often get the privilege to take other divers to visit some of the best dive sites in New Zealand.

Mid January this year I was in the middle of such a dive on Laison.s Reef, situated between White Island and the Volkner Rocks to the West. We had dropped down amongst 80 to 90 Yellowtail Kingfish and stacked up Shortail Rays up to 2 ½ mt across. The place is going off. As we reached the Northern end of the reef, I saw a sight that for the first time ever gave me an emotion I have never felt under water. ANGER. Stretching across this wonderful reef was an abandoned commercial gill net, its almost invisible nylon strands filled with dead fish. The frustration of being unable to do anything to help led me to take by dive knife and cut through the main float line in protest. I looked over the edge at 27 mt and could see no ends as it vanished into the clear depths below.

The first thing next day I contacted the Mark Scott from the Ministry of Fisheries, and reported my find and offering the services of our dive team from Sportsworld Whakatane. Once all the information had been presented, Mark arranged for the charter of Roy McIntyre.s vessel Horizon a commercial Crayfish boat. Also two fisheries offices to help identify the net would be aboard.

The operation was carefully planned and discussed with both the dive team and Roy to attempt to achieve best result. The dive team included Herb Williams and Kevin Harnett who would do the first dive, surveying and fixing two buoyed lines at 35 mt. The sea was clear and calm and as the first team arrived back, with reports of success but still unable to locate either end of the net. To ensure the best possible results we needed two more lines dropped deep down both the east and the west sides of the reef. Colin Due owner of Tauranga Underwater and myself started setting up for a deep deco dive. The plan was to reach at least 70 mt before tying off. Drop tanks were set up at 5 and 12 mt on the assent line. Colin was diving with twin 105.s and I had a 130, in addition we both had pony bottles as bail outs.

The dive started well as we dragged the two lines down on the western side. At 55 mt I came across an outcrop that snagged the weights and end ropes. I tied of the buoyed line as directed by Roy and we started to make our way around to the eastern wall. Colin had to detour across the top of the ridge to get a clear line to the net. At this stage our deco time was already rising, but we were still both clear for the drop. Trying to drag the line down the reef was taking a lot of energy and Colin.s air was starting to get chewed through quiet quickly. We had agreed to leaving the bottom at 100 bar and this was fast approaching for him. At 70 mt I started to slow, but Colin kept