Unseen Beauty

Just south of Port Macquarie there lies the coastal towns of Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills. Known for their long golden beaches and quiet surrounds they also have many delights just off their coast. On any day the seas are dotted with boats of fisherman trying their luck for a meal or whale watches hoping to catch a glimpse of Humpback Whales on their migrations along the coast. But there is a beauty to this part of the coast that goes un-noticed by their many visitors. Just a short distance from the shore there is a marine environment that is so colorful and diverse that words are hard to describe. The only way to behold its beauty is by scuba diving or through photography.
There is a vast reef system running down this coast from a depth of only a few meters to over 40 meters. At different depths the marine eco-system will change to give you a variety of different species. Hard and soft sponges are in abundance giving their residence colour and protection. Most of the shallow reefs I have dived are homes to some of the most colorful and bizarre creatures you will ever see. Nudibranchs, what you would describe as colorful slugs, are everywhere with colors so spectacular to warn their neighbors they are poisonous to eat. They just travel over the reefs eating their favorite food and mating. On any one dive there will be countless different nudibranchs to be seen. Other small critters and colorful crabs are also going about their business some of which are so small they are near impossible to see but when you find one you are mesmerized buy their beauty and simplicity in which they adapt to their environment. Having only dived a small portion of this reef system I am sure there are many more animals to discover.
These reefs are not only for the small and colorful there are holes and crevices everywhere that are homes to Moray eels, Lobsters and countless species of fish all waiting out the daylight until it is their time to feed at night. Wobbegongs and Port Jackson sharks also use the larger holes and gutters to rest and wait out the day light.
The deeper reefs have an entirely different eco-system with larger fish and less soft corals. These reefs are far from barren compared to the shallower reefs but due to the reduced amount of light different critters flourish. Due to the reduced light it is not to say that the animals are less colorful than there shallower reef counterparts. Some of the Nudibranchs found on the shallower reefs are also found at these deeper reefs. Other creatures like the Tiger Anemone will only be found at depths of 30 meters or more. These deeper reefs have also just recently been recognized for their environmental significance. The Cod Grounds is a set of pinnacles rising from the ocean floor at 32 meters to their summit of 26 meters below the surface. This site has just been given marine sanctuary status due to the large numbers of Grey nurse sharks that frequent here.
The reefs are not the only draw card for diving this area countless ships have sunk off this coast and only a few have been found. Telegraph rock is a bommie off Point Perpendicular and has the wreckage of the paddle steamer Telegraph with plenty to see at a shallow depth of 18 meters. There is also the wreck of the Titan the largest floating crane of its time which was sunk just off the coast at a depth of 39 meters. These wrecks also act as a man made reef attracting huge varieties of fish.