SCUBA! Magnetic Island

For the sake of science, I sacrificed my free time last weekend to expand my knowledge of marine biology through scuba diving. In order to achieve this I took an online course and spent Saturday and Sunday completing my open-water diving certification through Pleasure Dives at Magnetic Island.

I left on an early morning ferry from Townsville to Magnetic Island.

Sunrise over Magnetic Island

The first day I spent mostly in the pool and I did one dive in a shipwreck at Geoffrey Bay! How exciting to dive in the ocean for my first time! It was chilly!! Even with a wet-suit I was shivering and cold most of the day. But I braved winter on this tropical island for the sake of science, so that I will be better prepared to collect microalgae samples from the deep.

The next day I did two dives in the morning at Alma Bay, then we took a break before completing my open-water certification and doing my final dive at Geoffrey Bay.

Here is a brief video with a panoramic view of Geoffrey Bay:

But first I took a walk to collect some algae samples from the bay at low tide. Here is one of my sampling sites:

Algae Sampling site, Geoffrey Bay, Magnetic Island

While I was wading in the water collecting algae, I had a close encounter with a group of sting-rays! I managed to capture one on film before fleeing for my life!

Sting-ray

I was told that this was not sting-ray season, but I saw a number of sting-rays including during my dive. The locals told me that even in "off-season" there are always sting-rays in this bay.

And it was a good thing I fled the water, because a moment later I saw a number of shark fins!! I tried to get some footage. It is a little shaky because I was so excited and was too busy watching them with my eyes instead of through the camera.

After being frightened by the sharks, which I later found out are blacktip reef sharks, I decided to head to higher ground and make friends with some more congenial animals. I am speaking of course of the rock wallabies.

Finally I donned my SCUBA gear and headed back into the water for my final dive to complete my open water certification. I also obtained some algae samples for lab work while I was down there!

Here are some pictures from the experience:

Nudibranch

All in a days work! The next day I took my samples back to the lab and took some photos and video under the microscope.

(In the above video, the brown spinning things are dinoflagellates, and the longer slow moving things are diatoms.)