So in between super rainy weekdays the weekend exposed a lot of sunlight and great weather to be in the great outdoors. One of the issues is because of recent rain the waters were very murky and the swell was pretty high so not really ideal diving conditions, however this didn’t stop me and I still went diving and really glad that I did.

I did a few quick dives when I arrived just to get wet then exited and took a break while I just sat on some of the rocks to relax. After sitting for a while a guy came down with fins, the exact same wetsuit that I had, mask and the usual free diving equipment. I asked him if he was alone and he said yes so I asked if he wanted to join us. He agreed and connected one GoPro to his head mount, one GoPro to his chest and made his way to the water.

The minute he stepped into the water a massive wave smashed into him and when he recovered the GoPro mounted to his head was gone. The GoPro went missing right on the shore line where the waves were breaking against the rocks so it wasn’t exactly safe to be staying in that area looking for the missing camera. Irrespective of that, I helped him look for the GoPro (which was a black edition BTW) but still nothing. After about 10 minutes of looking and getting battered against the rocks we gave up and thought our lives were more important then a $500 dollar camera.

After sometime I went towards the rocks around the shallow part of the dive site. Its pretty boring for dive practice but much of the sea life resides within this area. It’s usually pretty nice when the waters are clear but there was so much dirt it was hard to see anything today. To my surprise as I was getting ready to go down and explore this area below the surface of the water, I saw a Wobbegong shark just hanging around at the bottom. It was about 1 meter long (maybe just a bit more then that) and was just sitting there probably waiting to jump on some prey.

I wasn’t aware of the behaviour of Wobbegong’s so I didn’t want to get to close. I knew it was a Wobbegong because I could recognise its shape and could see the beard along its mouth. I didn’t know at the time of the dive, if Wobbegong’s attack or what they ate, were they carnivores or herbivores, I remember reading it but had forgotten.  After some research on Wikipedia, it seems Wobbegong’s eat fish and have been known to attack snorkelers and scuba divers who annoy or try to block the Wobbegong’s path. They are also considered very flexible and can turn around and bite if you try to touch its tail. The grip of the Wobbegong shark is also thought to be very strong and once they bite, can hold on and can be very difficult to remove.

I stayed a safe distance from the Shark but was happy to see a Wobbegong in real life and to also be able to catch it on camera 🙂 At least next time, if I see a Wobbegong I will know what to expect. I didn’t spend to long at the dive site because it was my old man’s birthday and had to go home and cook the birthday dinner as I had promised 🙂