Esperance Albany - Denmark Albany Best in the SW Augusta - Cape Naturalist
Busselton - Geographe Bay Fremantle - Cockburn Sound Rottnest Island
Houtman Abrolhos Jurien Bay - Geraldton Shark Bay Ningaloo Reef - Exmouth
Port Hedland Dampier Broome - Cape Levique Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Christmas Island Diving
Israelite Bay was a flat stretch of coastline with surf beaches, a salt pan inlet, offshore low profile reefs and a few islands further out to sea. The water is clear and brisk and suitable for scuba diving, snorkeling and underwater photography.
I was lucky enough to take part in a shelling expedition run by Peter Hudson who has the dive shop at Esperance, so it gave me the opportunity to get wet in a place that had thawted me during my Australian Coastal Marine Expedition in 1970.
Peter has one of the few professional shell collecting licences issued by Western Australian authorites and he is a very keen underwater explorer and sheller.
The huge cave near Cocklebiddy in the Nullarbor Plains luckily had a flimsy ladder and a safety rope already in place, courtesy of unknown cavers. For us it was awesome!
Out in the middle of a nowhere desert, no radio, nobody knew we were there. Never having been down into a cave before we had no idea of what lay ahead.
The rope disappeared down into a small hole below a huge rockfall. Down we went ( very carefully) If one rock dislodged while we were inside , the whole lot might come down and block the entrance.
Half way down into the blackness of the cave I could hear this unbelievabe pounding.......it took quite a while to work out what the noise was.......My heart was beating so loud that inside the stillness of the cave it was like huge drums being beaten. It pounded and pounded inside ones head, very scary stuff to me experiencing it for the first time.
However, we made it 100 metres down to the water at the bottom ( which was crystal clear) had a snorkel and climbed back, none the worse for the experience and a whole lot more respect for the word, cave.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
The dirt track of the Eyre Highway ( main road) from the South Australian border was rutted with corrugations. The only access into the coast were a couple of turnoffs along dirt/sand tracks into the coast and no way of knowing if they actually reached the coast.
We stopped and camped at a cave near Cocklebiddy, a huge hole in the ground. Totally awesome to me , but it was said that there was water at the bottom , so I had to give it a go. It was quite an experience.
Some time later the axle of the box trailer parted company with the entire chassis.
I managed to tie it all together with anchor rope and as long as we went slowly and got out every few kilometres and check it, we were able to make some headway. However, it was along uncertain time, as the closest welding facility was over 600 kilometres away.
Due to this, my plans to drive into Israelite Bay were forestalled and I had to wait another 20 years before I got the opportunity to check out this area.
Mississippi Point- Recherche Archipelago
Despite all the dificulties, January 1971 found us at Mississippi Point, east of Esperance where we met up with a group of abalone divers/spearfishermen/gill netters who resided there in caravans and anchored their boats offshore in the surf with huge cement blocks.
In exchange for me diving for abalone for them they agreed to take me out to the bigger islands whenever they went out.
Abalone diver/spearfisherman/gill - netter Jack Mallard with a bag of giant Black Abalone Haliotis ruber, and a smile on his face. Till I came along and showed them how to go under the ledges and in the caves to find the huge big Black Abalone, the abalone divers had only collected the smaller Green - lip Abalone Haliotis laevigata.
The habitat of huge Black - lip Abalone Haliotis ruber from Mississippi Point was well appreciated by the Abalone divers and I was able to ship a lot of the big shells back to Scoresby Shepherd at South Australian Fisheries ( as his first examples of this species from that area) who was working on reseach and tagging of abalone in South Australia.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
This colour variation of the Varicoloured Sea Star Echinaster varicolor was fairly common at the Recherche Archipelago islands. Below water, the granite islands were unbelievable in the scope and diversity of the immense numbers of sea creatures.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Professional diver and shell collector Peter Hudson ( Esperance Diving Academy) has been exploring the Recherche Archipelago for 40 years and has made unbelievable discoveries.
Here he shows off two beautiful Much - desired cowries Cypraea venusta.
(photo: Neville Coleman)
The remains of the old Telegraph Station ( 1876- 1927) at Israelite Bay, south Western Australia.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Plainly in sight are the shore reefs and the shallow offshore reefs where we searched for Friends Cowries.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Israelite Bay was a flat stretch of coastline with surf beaches, a salt pan inlet, offshore low profile reefs and a few islands further out to sea. I was lucky enough to take part in a shelling expedition run by the dive shop operator at Esperance. Peter Hudson had one of the few professional shell collecting licences issued by Western Australian authorites and he was a very keen sheller.
Friends Cowry Cypraea friendii friendii. It was forms similar to this that were the target of Peter Hudsons expedition to Israelite Bay.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
I went along to get some pictures on the understanding that any shells I found went to Peter. That was fine by me, the chance to just get there after having to give up on my original trip around Australia 20 years before, was worth whatever I might find in regard to valuable shells. I did not get very much in the way of images because all the diving was in shallow kelp beds.
There were four of us and all the gear diving out of this 4 metre "Rubber Duck" so there was not much room for cameras.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
With only a 3 mm suit I was quite cold and after several hours in the water I became a bit numbed. When everybody was again out of air I handed up my cameras and shells and in an effort to help to push up the scuba tank,I gave my ususal kick to push up the tank and suddenly my left side and leg went paralysed. I knew it could not be bends because we had only been in water 2 metres deep, searching through the shallow kelp beds.
The launching beach at Israelite Bay, a long stretch of white sand edged with foam.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Unfortunately even though my feelings came back to my left side I was unable to point my toe. My left foot and leg had somehow become sort of stuck in a stand up position and did not want to go.
I went to the doctor and specialist to get an opinion and was told a really long name for my affliction and the news that I would have to lay on my back for 2 years with my leg upraised to get it fixed. That was not a reasonable cure, so I just tried to walk with it as it was. A year of awkward use later I could almost point my toe.
It does give me heaps sometimes, BUT two years on my back was not an option!
I did not make it to the bigger islands off Israelite Bay but I did manage to get there and experience the water and see nearly 100 species of creatures. This was one of our sunsets, which was almost as good, a virtual "critter" shot!
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Esperance Albany - Denmark Albany Best in the SW Augusta - Cape Naturalist
Busselton - Geographe Bay Fremantle - Cockburn Sound Rottnest Island
Houtman Abrolhos Jurien Bay - Geraldton Shark Bay Ningaloo Reef - Exmouth
Port Hedland Dampier Broome - Cape Levique Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Christmas Island Diving
Neville Coleman's diving expeditions, fauna surveys, photographic fauna surveys and marine life identification courses include every major group of marine life.
Neville Coleman's expertise in marine life identification extends to the identification of Algae, Sea Grass, Forams, Sponges, Stony Corals, Soft Corals, Sea Anemones, Sea Jellies, Zoanthids, Corallimorphs, Black Corals, Flatworms, Segmented Worms, Crustaceans, Barnacles, Shrimps, Rock Lobsters, Hermit Crabs, Squat Lobsters, Molluscs, Chitons, Univalves, Bivalves, Cephalopods, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Squid, Opisthobranchs, Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs, Bryozoans, Sea Mosses, Echinoderms, Sea Stars, Feather Stars, Brittle Stars, Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, Ascidians/Sea Squirts, Marine Fish, Sharks and Marine Mammals, all found in the waters off the Great Australian Bight, Western Australia.
( Copyright Neville Coleman/Nigel Marsh)
