Shark Revolution is a communication project "from the shark's mouth". Through imagery and writing the team aim to educate through their website, a series of children's books and a body of photographic works. Check it out at: www.shark-revolution.com Jean-Marie and Pablo came back in from their expedition full of smiles and with some great photos. After 22 dives (including 4 night dives) and some 'exceptional moments' they were lost for words to explain the emotions they felt about their experiences. Jean-Marie described it as "gardens of corals and a biodiversity as in few places.” There are natural elements found in the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea that cannot be compared to other places on the planet: life: colour; emotion; elegance and nature in it’s a pure state." To see some of Jean-Marie's photos please go to our photo gallery.
Again we are supporting the Cairns Underwater Festival which will this year present the brand new Cairns Underwater Photography Competition. Two, 7 night Coral Sea Safari Expeditions are up for grabs as major prizes in the competition. All photographs must be taken underwater in North Queensland in the last 2 years. For details of the general rules and a copy of the entry form click here. With the range of great underwater photography subjects on our dive sites, we expect some of Spoilsport’s guests will have a very good chance of winning. For inspiration or to see some of the photographs taken aboard Spoilsport in the last twelve months, take a look at some of the finalists for the 2009-2010 onboard guest photo competition. The winner of the onboard competition will be announced in April's Dive Log.
Most people will realize that frogfish are difficult to photograph as they often blend perfectly with their habitat. This was not my problem – this guy was sitting there loud and proud on a light coloured coral head, easy to see because he was as black as the Ace of Spades. Any good photographer will know that photographing something black successfully is not easy at all. How to capture the detail without blowing out the highlights is the main issue. Well I gave it my best shot, and after about 10 minutes, swam away muttering to myself. Oh well, I thought. If the frogfish photos don’t work out at least I’ve got the Pygmy seahorse, rhinopias (lacy) scorpionfish and giant potato cod in the bag from the last two dives at Cod Hole. With a smug grin on my face I headed back for the boat, already thinking about the hot towels, fine cuisine and drinks on the sun deck that awaited my return, and the coming shark feed at Osprey Reef the next day. “Five Star diving – you’ve got to love it” I thought, as I climbed back on board. Photos & Article by: Alison Smith.
But, ahoy, what an exciting year we’ve had! And what grand adventures me ol salty heart has shared with all ye scurvy dogs and parrot heads in King Neptune’s realm of treasures. Aarrgh. Beneath the decks of Spoily we have been visited by strange reincarnations of me ol shipmates, like a three metre tiger shark. But me most special encounter was with three baby hammerheads. One of the little fellas followed me back to Spoily but the Trip Director, Mr. Kennedy, wouldn’t let me take him home for me fish tank. He be a heartless soul that Mr. Kennedy! And how about those mantas we saw off at Admiralty Anchor. Eight of those denizens of the deep were shamelessly doing a mating dance for all of us to see. Absolutely awesome! But we saw more. Whale sharks, bull sharks, huge cod and even minke whales. Ahab, keep your harpoon in your pants, ye scurvy dog! But, aargh, ye treasure seekers too can share your own tales with your shipmates. How? Climb aboard Spoily with the best pirate crew sailing the seven seas. Ye’ll be treated like first class stowaways of yore. No scrubbin the deck. Or even walkin the plank! Just fine diving with the creatures normally seen only on the murderous (Black Jack) Attenborough’s Blue Planet. And you’ll be joined by me ol shipmates, “Whalebone” Jackson who, in his past life, was the most feared pirate in the vast Pacific. ...But, that be another tale to tell. Meantime I’m off for more adventures over the depths of Davey Jones’ locker. So with a tear in me ol salty eye, here’s a heartfelt farewell from this son of a son of a sailor, Pirate Pete. Aaargh!!!
The new study in the Antarctic conducted off the research vessel Tangaroa that attempts to prove that scientific research on whales can be accomplished without lethal methods has attracted much international publicity. Its aim is to prove there is no need to kill whales to study them and, hence, refute Japanese arguments that “scientific” whaling is the only accurate way to get data. Logically then, the study should prove unequivocally that none of the roughly 1,000 whales, primarily Minke whales, in the Japanese annual “quota” need not be sacrificed (and brought back to Japan for the dinner plate). But this isn’t the only study of live whales in the world. In Australia, humpback whale populations on both the east and west coast have been carefully tracked with non-intrusive methods like topside photo identification, census count, migration routes, etc. The same goes for sperm whales in New Zealand, pilot and melon-headed whales in Hawaii, Orcas in the Pacific Northwest and dwarf minke whales on the Great Barrier Reef. And there are more examples of this world-wide. What makes the dwarf minke research here different to all other non-lethal research is that photo/video identification and behavior observations are made not just above but UNDER the water. Dedicated professionals at the Minke Whale Project, an ongoing study by James Cook University, have already gleaned solid facts from the large, growing data set about the Great Barrier Reef’s dwarf minke population. Dwarf minke whales, the smallest of the baleen whales, regularly approach boats and swimmers from June through July on the Great Barrier Reef. What makes them vastly different from other large cetaceans is that they actually initiate encounters and stay, usually in small groups, for hours at a time. That is why our vessel Spoilsport conducts dedicated minke whale expeditions from mid-June through mid-July; and the success rate for encounters has been 100 percent for years. Current research performed by the Minke Whale Project, targets: behavior, population characteristics and whale/swimmer interactions. Photos donated by Spoilsport’s passengers and crew, reveal that some individuals return to the same dive sites many years in a row. Seasonally, some travel hundreds of kilometres and have been identified at multiple locations. Detailed questionnaire results show average whale number and interaction duration for Great Barrier Reef sites. Lighthouse Bommie, a staple of our expeditions, boasts an average of almost five whales and three hours per encounter. It’s located at the bottom of Ribbon Reef #10 in an area where almost half of all sightings on the Great Barrier Reef have been reported in recent years. To see the gentle giants underwater can be a breathtaking and profound emotional experience. To put a price tag on whales may seem blasphemous to some but, strangely enough, it may be their economic value that will ultimately save them from extinction. Hopefully the few countries that slaughter them still will eventually see their real value as highly evolved, intelligent mammals essential for the health of marine ecosystems.
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2010 Minke Whale Expeditions nearly fully booked 
Guest's Report:
