Robert's Ramblings

Anyone who as taken a flash photograph while it is snowing would know just how annoying those fuzzy white blurs of light can be.

It’s like the physical world is conspiring against you. You see your subject fine through the rain or snow yet in the captured image the main even is upstaged by a flurry of bright white fuzzies, back-scatter.

Back-scatter is a very real problem for those of us who dive in turbid water. It is caused by the light from our flash or strobes hitting tiny particles in the water closer to us than to our subject. The result is usually white fuzzy mess.

There are techniques used to minimise this effect such as moving strobes or flashes well off to the side or far back behind the camera lens. At the end of the day however, removing back-scatter usually becomes a tedious post production activity. A necessary evil of underwater photographic post-production.

I have removed most of the back-scatter in this squid image leaving just enough to remind that dive conditions, especially for photography, are never perfect.


#animals #cephlapods #chromataphores #creatures #critters #diving #edithburgh #juvenile #night #ocean #scuba #sea #sepioteuthisaustralis #southaustralia #squid #underwater

Alien Encounter

If scuba diving is a privileged opportunity to experience critters hidden from our world then scuba diving at night takes it into a different, almost alien, world altogether.

Strange creatures come out from their secret nooks to search and hunt for prey. Sea lice and phytoplankton swarm dive lights like insects to headlights. Strange creaks, crackles and the odd indescribable sound fills the inky blackness while our lights illuminates just the tiniest bit of our surrounds.

Diving at night requires giving in to certainty and comfort in exchange for the unkown, the unexpected and alien encounters.

This southern calamari (Sepioteuthis australis) under Edithburgh Jetty on a recent dive was just such and encounter.

#animals #chromataphores #creatures #scuba #diving,juvenile #night #ocean #edithburgh #sea #critters #Sepioteuthisaustralis #squid #underwater #cephlapods #southaustralia

The last time I dived at Port Noarlunga the entry steps down to the water at the end of the jetty were broken and boarded off from access. Last night was a great treat as I got to try out the brand new dual lane super steps. What a treat!

Visibility however was not fantastic, perhaps 2-3m at best making it very easy to get lost. Not many fish either last night but lots of small critter action to make up for both.

One awesome critter we found was this super cute Southern Dumpling Squid, Euprymna tasmanicas. Actually we found quite a few of these in the sand south of the jetty and they always make be grin.

We spent just over 70 minutes which was more than enough in the chilly 13 degrees water. We exited via the short ladder and platform near the start of the jetty and I was once again reminded why climbing ladders and carry camera gear while half frozen never makes for classy end to a dive.

Despite the cold it’s nice being back in the water again.

#Ocean #portnoarlunga #jetty #southaustralia #squid #macro #scuba #diving #underwater #photography #underwaterphotography #SouthernDumplingSquid #Euprymnatasmanicas #critters #animals

Rapid Bay was a delight today with almost millpond seas, sunshine and blue skies. Even the water looked clear as we gazed out from the car park and began putting together our gear. A short while later we descended in the cold clear water under Rapid Bay Jetty.

We found our first young leafy seadragon a short while into the dive out in the sea grass. We had been told there were quite a few young adults around which was lovely to hear though we only found the one before heading on and out to the old jetty.

Then we found the squid, or perhaps they found us. Far out in the seagrass away from the jetties, the fishers and their squid jags, we came on a school of nearly 50 squid spread out over 20 square meters.

At first they were flighty as is typical for swimming squid but as we settled down into the grass they became curious enough to come over to us for a mutually beneficial closer look.

How amazingly crazy they look with their large bright eyes and those flapping wings. They seem to move in ways that bear no correlation to their body movements like backwards moonwalking through water.

We stayed with these curious calamari until the cold drove us to swim off to warm up again. Perhaps they will still be there next time.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Curious Calamari', 1/100s f/11 ISO320 35mm

Our Rapid Bay night dive was meant to be about little critters, especially nudibranchs smaller than half my little finder but when this Southern Calamari (Sepioteuthis australis) came into my view I was suitably distracted.

In fact I was so distracted in the strong current that I had drifted 70m or more from the jetty pylons out into seagrass beds.

The amazing coloration of squids is due to the chromatophres in their skin giving them an almost electric vibrance at night,

After a handful of mid-water shots I eventually headed back to the jetty pushing directly into into the strong current for my navigation.

I saw a couple more squid during the dive but none posed for me the way this guy did.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Electric Squid' 1/100s f/22 ISO400 100mm

This is the kind of image I could show my mother and she'd be none the wiser as to what she was looking at. If she really knew what was going on here she'd probably blush and respond with a 'that's nice dear'.

These Lined Dumpling Squid ,also know as Pyjama Squid (Sepioloidea lineolata), are obviously engaged in a private activity but unlike most humans they do not seem to care one little bit about my photographic intrusion.
I can say however that their closed eyes has more to do with my blinding lights rather than them being in the moment.

We saw about ten pyjama squid on this recent Edithburgh night. It is wonderful to see so many of these critters out and about and the variety of their nocturnal activities.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Pyjama Love', 1/100s f/14 ISO100 100mm

Back home again and what better place to jump back into local water again than a midnight dive at Port Noarlunga.

The visibility was not great, there was some surge and a strong current but nothing stopping another great macro photography session.

There was not much critter action around aside from a huge amount of shellfish mating taking place in the southern weedbeds. My original plan for the dive was to find and photograph nudibranchs but my tally for the night was a big zero.

One highlight of my dive was this awesomely colourful Southern Dumpling Squid, Euprymna tasmanicas. The amazing colours in the dumpling squid are due to the chromataphores in the skin. Using the chromataphores the dumpling squid is able to change its colours to either camouflage or make itself aggressive as needs arise. On a dark night the squid's chromataphores resume this natural colourful state captured in the camera's strobe.

After a very pleasant 2 hours underwater we surfaced to an abandoned jetty, no jetty lights and a starry night sky.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Creature of Colours', 1/160s f/22 ISO400 100mm

Port Noarlunga delivers again, well sort of!

I'd just repaired the strobe firing system on my housing and serviced all the port o-rings so I was pretty eager to get back in the water again.

It was late and the air was cold clear and still. Perfect for a night dive.

For those who have dived Port Noarlunga recently you will have discovered the steps down to the water at the end of the jetty are broken and have been boarded off from access. Access now is currently from a ladder mid-way down or as a beach entry. Carrying a large camera I found the ladder entry fine for getting in but I'd recommend coming back out on the beach rather than trying to get back up the ladder again.

Visibility was not fantastic, perhaps 2m at beast making it very easy to get lost even trying to follow the pylon line and a strong current just made navigation harder. The critter activity however was full on making the visibility immaterial. In the weed beds to the south of the jetty there was a huge amount of shellfish mating activity with many new and interesting positions observed. Barnacles perched atop razorfish fished for morsel with their feathery cirri outstretched into the current and anemones in the sand were everywhere.

There were many other critters going about their evening and I did not have to swim very far to really enjoy the dive. The highlight of my dive was this awesomely cute Southern Dumpling Squid, Euprymna tasmanicas.

At just under an hour this was one of the shortest dives I have done for a while but at 12 degrees that self imposed time limit was actually quite welcome and I got a few good shots for the effort.

Yes, Port Noarlunga delivered again.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Dear Dumpling' 1/100s f/16 ISO100 100mm+12mmEXT

Southern Calamari, squid or Sepioteuthis australis (if you want to get technical) are wonderful to watch at night when they are out hunting.

This juvenile under Edithburgh Jetty shows the incredible colouration created by the chromatophores in their skin.

They also remind me of the sentinels in 'The Matrix', affectionately know as the squiddies!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Squiddy' 1/100s f/20 ISO160 100mm

I've said before that Port Noarlunga is underrated as an amazing diving location and last night's dive proved again the beauty here.

We got in the water around 11pm but with the 40 degC hot days we have been having it was just like jumping into a warm bath. Feeling pretty relaxed and pretty lazy we dived a very small area below the end of Port Noarlunga Jetty and as it turned out we did not have to go far for all the critter action.

This image shows a juvenile Southern Calamari, Sepioteuthis australis, out hunting, one of many we encountered.

We found nudibranchs, bobtail squid, headshield slugs, blue ring octopus, scorpion fish as well as many of the local reef inhabitants in their nocturnal state.

The secret to an awesome Port Noarlunga night dive is to come back off from the reef and dive the sand and sea-grass beds. That's where the really interesting critters will be.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Baby's Gone a Hunting' 1/100 f/20 ISO320 100mm

Night diving is always great fun and often full of wonderful little surprises (big surprises are OK too so long as they are under 3m). Last night Matt and myself descended below the ever popular Pt Noarlunga Jetty just shy of midnight. The usual suspects showed up on cue and I got the chance to play a little bit more with my new rig.

About midway into the dive a little squid no bigger than a golfball turned up out on the sand. At first I thought he was one of the local Southern Dumpling Squid. The colours seemed right even if a bit pale, though you can never really tell with cephalopods. Those cute little bug eyes did not seem right though, they seemed too big for a dumpling squid. Shortly after taking this image he rose and swam directly at my camera lens. A behaviour I have never experienced with dumpling squid.

Today I had a closer look at the photograph, the eyes, the colours on the wings and the presentation of the chromatophores and decided he must be a juvenile Southern Calamari (Squid), Sepioteuthis australis.

All up we had a great dive and it was a real pity I could not convince a few other friends to join us. It seems than diving invitations are not so popular after 10pm on a normal working weeknight! Oh well, there's always next time.

More photo's from last night's dive can be found here at Midnight Pt Noarlunga (Facebook Album) or my slideshow on Flickr.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath, juvenile Southern Calamari, Pt Noarlinga Jetty (Night). Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.

I can't believe it has been nearly a month since my last post! This last weekend we were in Edithburgh again with a group of nine Open Water students. Even with 11 degrees, wetsuits and less than 2m visibility, they were a fantastic and enthusiastic group. Well done!

Despite the teaching, the cold and poor visibility, we still managed a few "fun" dives and captured some lovely images. The photo for this post is a very awesomely cute Southern Dumpling Squid, Euprymna tasmanicas.

The amazing thing about the Southern Dumpling squid is that it produces light from an organ in its gill cavity. This organ contains bacteria that glow in the dark, and the dumpling squid uses this light to hide its silhouette from below by exactly matching the light from above. Very impressive camouflage technology!

On Sunday afternoon, my old mate David Bryant from Seapics http://www.seapics.com.au/ joined us for a dusk dive after having driven non-stop from Melbourne that morning.

David and some of his friends have come over to dive with the Whyalla cuttlefish, so it was a great chance to catch up and dive together again after some 12 or more years.

Until the next post, take care out there, keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath C5060 1/45s at f/8 ISO200 Lens UCL165AD Macro, Inon D2000 Strobe

This Lined Dumpling Squid, also know as a Striped Pyjama Squid, Sepioloidea lineolata is all of about 5cm in length and a very cute inhabitant of my favourite dive site, Edithburgh.

There is some confusion of the distribution of this little guy ranging from a wide Southern Australian distribution through to local to Edithburgh only. I will keep an eye on this one and see where the consensus goes.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath C5060 1/180s at f/3.5 ISO200 Natural Light