Robert's Ramblings

The seaweed is always greener
in somebody else's lake
You've dreamed about going down there
What ever made you wait
Just look at the world around you
Right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things surround you
What more is you lookin' for?

Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling it's better
Down where it's wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore they work all day
Stuck in the office they slave away
While I'm devotin'
Full time to floatin'
Under the sea

Inspired by The Little Mermaid and the Rapid Bay Leafy Sea Dragons.

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Under The Sea', 1/1000s f/7.1 ISO640 15mm

Did I happen to mention I love scuba diving and this little cutie under Rapid Bay Jetty is just one of the many reasons.

The Ornate Cowfish (Aracana ornata) would have to one of the cutest little critters swimming around our local coastline. This one is a female and quite plain while in contrast it is the males that have earned their 'Ornate' namesake.

Very often cowfish are flighty and do not like to have their photographs taken but I think this one took a shine to her own reflection in the camera lens and posed and posed and posed for as long as I wanted.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Moo Maid', 1/1600s f/7.1 ISO640 15mm

P.S. This is NOT an aquarium shot. Just Saying!

I could follow these Zebra Fish (Girella zebra) around all day as they cross from here to there.

Photographing them is easy. Just watch for a while as they traverse their circuitous route through pylons, reef and and bottom debris and they will eventually come round again. All you need to do is wait.

I chose this spot to wait near the old Rapid Bay Jetty and on their own schedule they crossed my path as planned.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Zebra Crossing', 1/1600s f/7.1 ISO640 15mm

It is wonderful enough to dive Rapid Bay and see a Leafy Seadragon. It is simply magical to see a juvenile dragon.

Today's dive at Rapid Bay was like a busy mall as ideal conditions attracted many Adelaide and visiting international divers.

It was great to catch up with friends and dive among the old pylons with the Leafys again


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Baby Dragon', 1/250s f/7.1 ISO640 15mm

The marine life under Rapid Bay jetty seems to be getting better and better over the last few years after the hit it took when the new jetty was built.

The fish life is abundant and the sea-grass beds a re looking better than ever.

What does seem to be taking its time to recover are the large algae, especially the kelp which adorn the deep pylons at the end of the old jetty.

As this is one of my favourite dive locations I will be keeping a very close eye on this place both above and below the water.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Rapid Bay Looking West', 1/200s f/13 ISO640 150mm

I had the most amazing shot in mind for day 999 but .... Humbug Scrub caught fire.

At first I thought the billowing white cloud above Adelaide was some strange storm cloud but soon it became apparent it was anything but natural.

Today was hot, 44degC hot, and all morning the catastrophic fire warnings were being repeated for all of the Adelaide Hills. For Hills dwellers a fire like this is always on theirs minds during our summer and today the worst appears to have happened.

I've not heard of any injuries to people so far and I hope it stays that way while fire crews do their best to bring it under control.

Just to put some perspective on this bushfire, this image was taken from Rapid Bay Jetty, nearly 100km away to the South.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 999, Humbug Scrub Bushfire', 1/800s f/7.1 ISO100 200mm

Photographing the gurnard perch would have to be the low hanging fruit of a Rapid Bay Jetty midnight dive.

They sit there on the sand at the start and end of the dive and let themselves be photographed from any angle you want.

Not the prettiest fish among the amazing diversity of life under the jetty but beautiful all the same and a great subject to practice fish portraiture.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 992, Fish Portraiture', 1/100s f/11 ISO100 100mm

I was wondering what to write about this beautiful place and found myself singing lines of a song from 'The Sound of Music'.

Instead of raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens I had stormclouds and soft light, and ripples on oceans... Well you get get what I mean.

This image of a brooding Rapid Bay not only captures some of my favorite things but reminds me to pursue them more often.

Unlike that song from the Austrian Alps I plan to do less remembering and more doing!!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 935, My Favorite Things' 1/400s f/10 ISO100 31mm

Most of my environmental portraits have a connection with the ocean and the experience of being immersed in something we love to do; dive!

I jokingly named this diver 'Dives With Sponges' after an old Kevin Costner movie but his real name is Herbert, a German friend come to Adelaide and Rapid Bay specifically to dive with and photograph our Leafy Sea Dragons.

The visibility for Herbet's dives here was very poor ranging from 1-3m over the dives we did. However we we not disappointed with the Leafys we found.

As for this image, it was nearly called 'Dives In Sponges' instead.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 832, Dives With Sponges', 1/100s f11 ISO320 15mm

There are more Old Wives (Enoplosus armatus) here than in the Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Empire.

Actually a harem is not the group of women but a sacred place reserved for them to reside protected from the perils of the outside world.

In some ways the 'T' of Rapid Bay Jetty jetty is just like the Imperial Harem. It offers the group protection from the open water predators and has it's own sacred feel.

I'm looking forward to revisiting this harem again soon.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 789, The Harem' 1/100s f/8 ISO320 15mm

Not as scary as it looks, looking down from the cliffs that skirt the ocean between Second Valley and Rapid Bay.

This hidden and beautiful part of our local coastline has an almost 'secret garden' feel.

To get there is not all that hard. A willingness to scramble up and around 45 degree rocky cliff faces is all you need to find secret coves with sandy beaches that you can have all to you self.

Just make sure you don't look down, ... oops too late.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 778, Precipice' 1/160s f/16 ISO160 15mm

There are many reasons why Rapid Bay jetty is one of the best jetty dives in Australia. One of those things is depth.

At its deepest around 11m, it is one of our deepest recreational jetties being rivaled by only a few active commercial loading facilities.

With all that depth it is just a wonderful place to lay on the bottom and watch the world above me.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 770, The World Above Me' 1/100s f/14 ISO320 15mm

There is something wonderful when a school of big pelagics comes to visit you on a dive.

These Yellowtail Kingfish were part of a larger school which followed me around for a large part of my dive at Rapid Bay.

Seeing these fish up close I am struck at just how beautifully streamlined and powerful they are, unlike me, perfectly suited for their environment.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 768, Yellowtail Kingfish' 1/100s f/8 ISO320 15mm

I never tire of diving with Leafy Seadragons and here is another simply magic day down at Rapid Bay.

Every shade of beautiful refers to more than just the dragon.

The gorgeous turquoise blues of the ocean, the emerald greens of the seagrass and the golden yellows of the dragon all come together in this gentle seascape.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 755, Every Shade of Beautiful' 1/125 f/8.0 ISO160 8mm

When it comes to wide-angle, it is hard to beat the 180 degrees of an 8mm FE lens.

This panoramic sphere has captured Liam's last descent before heading home following a week of diving and photographing Rapid Bay Jetty.

Liam lent me his 8-16 FE zoom for this dive. Not having the correct gearing in my housing I elected to fix the zoom at 8mm and just have some photographic fun.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 741, The Big Descent' 1/400s f/11 ISO100 8mm

My first Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, for the year and this old boy has seen better days.

Although he is missing a few appendages the evidence of a recent clutch of eggs is testament to the fact that he's still got what it takes to win the ladies.

Weedy seadragons are not usually seen at Rapid Bay Jetty so finding this guy was a real treat for me today and comes after another batch of poor conditions which are finally clearing.

The coming few days are looking better and better so weekend divers should be in for real treat.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 740, Still Got What It Takes' 1/160s f/8 ISO160 8mm

Today's dive at Rapid Bay with Liam was an exercise in reconnaissance.

Our mission was to locate a Leafy Seadragon but it was always going to be a challenge in the murky conditions.

Liam found his dragon and we were both treated to an uncommon visitor, a Longsnout Boarfish, Pentaceropsis recurvirostris

Conditions were not great for wide angle photography but we gave it our best anyway.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 735, A Not So Boaring Profile' 1/800 f/8.0 ISO320 15mm

The expression 'fruit of the sea' is usually a term used for the animals of the ocean such fishes, crustaceans and molluscs. There are in fact 'real' fruits of the ocean and the sea grass meadows of the coastal shallows are one place you can find them.

The predominant seagrass of the Rapid Bay area is Posidonia sinuosa, and now with the warming water they are beginning to fruit.

The fruit of Posidonia sinuosa is actually quite pleasant to eat although I have never eaten enough of them to comment on their toxicity. Once you peel back the outer green husk there is a firmer green nut-like body inside which is not at all salty as might be expected and tastes something like a cross between a pumpkin seed and a pine nut.

Fruit from Posidonia sinuos might not be the beginning of a new food industry but seagrass meadows play an incredibly important role in providing our 'fruit of the sea' as a nursery habitat for many important commercial fish species.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 704, Fruit of the Sea', 1/100 f/5.0 ISO100 15mm

The greater Adelaide area has been blessed with amazing sunsets these last few days which has got me to thinking about how they happen.

When there are local high clouds and hundreds of kilometers of clear dry air off into the direction of the sunset magic happens.
The light from the sun, now well below the horizon, is bent around the curvature of the earth. The long path through the atmosphere filters out the colours from violet through to yellow lighting up the local clouds with vivid reds and oranges.

This image is actually before sunset with the sun disappearing behind Rapid Head. The light show is juts beginning.

Unfortunately our gorgeous sunsets do not last very long due to the angle of the sun in the sky . Now nearing our summer solstice we can expect the really vivid colours to last no more than about 5 minutes (compared to about 10 minutes in winter) as the sun races of into the west.

The title of this image comes from the poem 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' by Dylan Thomas; "... Rage, rage against the dying of the light".


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 703, The Dying of the Light', 1/320 f/8 ISO100 15mm

Visibility at Rapid Bay has dropped off a little following that dread northerly wind and corresponding bottom surge.

The wide angle lens may not be able to capture the larger environment very well but does a fin job in its other role of close focus wide angle.

This majid spider crab, Leptomithrax gaimadii, seems happy enough to pose for this style of portrait regardless of the fact that the dome of my housing is just inches away from him.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 701, Just Hanging' 1/30s f/7.1 ISO320 15mm

I remember the first time I laid eyes on this scene 25 years ago as vividly as if it were yesterday.

This sweeping stretch coastline from Normanville to where the road heads inland and down on to Cape Jervis overlooks Lady Bay out to sea and Rapid Head out to the west.

Last night we were treated to the most incredible sunset I have ever seen and I nearly did not even notice as we were driving home from Rapid Bay.

Suddenly Jennifer gave a yelp of delight and screamed 'pull over'. Glancing back over my left should I saw it. By the time I got may camera setup on the tripod it was nearly over but even the aftermath was spectacular.

This time she got the best shot of the amazing colour on her camera phone and I got the beginnings of the sky changing from a full sky of fiery orange back to twilight blue.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 700, Lady Bay', 1/5s f/7.1 ISO160 15mm

Rapid Bay is becoming a bit of a regular drawcord for me not just for the diving but for the land and seascapes as well.

Here at the eastern end, fishers perch precariously on the rocks while a gentle sea laps on the shingled beach.

It's great to have a moody sky again after the recent wall-to-wall blue skies.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 696, Precariously Perched', 1/320 f/7.1 ISO160 15mm

Lying on the ocean floor looking up at this school of Old Wives (Enoplosus armatus) I am treated to a moment where the school have created their very own jetty pylon.

Their unfortunate common name refers to the sound made when a fish is caught on a fishing line. I wonder if the plural of the common name should be 'Old Wifes' instead?

As shown the visibility down at Rapid Bay is still very good even with some recent bad weather. This site holds up very well to periods of bad weather from the west through to the south which will be our most common type of 'weather' as we head into summer.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 692, A Pile of Old Wives', 1/60s f/14 ISO640 15mm

If you are a local and spend most of your time around the Adelaide metropolitan beaches then you could be excused for thinking we are looking south.

Many Adelaide visitors make this mistake and then wonder why they can't enjoy the sunset here. This view is looking west and now that we are heading into summer the sun will still descend behind the headland.

I don't usually make the effort to explore the coastline around Rapid Bay, at least not above the the waterline. I plan to do it more often.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 684, Rapid Bay', 1/400s f/2.8 ISO640 200mm

We have some of the most colourful and interesting sea stars here in our Southern waters but I have to admit that I often overlook them as I search for the more 'exotic' creatures such as nudibranchs, cephalopods or dragons.

Sea stars are everywhere and not just many of the same type but a wide variety of species as well. Even sea stars of the same species often look very different from each other as any biscuit star will beautifully demonstrate.

While diving near the 'T' at Rapid Bay Jetty I came across this Red Sea Star, Pentagonaster dubeni, which was as visually conspicuous as an orange safely flare as it sat perched atop some bottom structure.

Perhaps I will pay a little more attention to the sea stars in the future and give the 'exotics' a break for a while!.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 682, Starry Eyed Surprise', 1/160s f/13 ISO640 40mm+2D

Anyone who has dived Rapid Bay Jetty over the last 6 weeks would know how bad the visibility has been.

There have been days there when you could not see more than 50cm through the milky brine which always seems to follow a period of northerly fetch. I have heard many different opinions on why the visibility here is so changeable. Some people suggest that it has been 'bad' since the new jetty was built a few years ago due to disturbance of the sea bed however I can remember these 'milky' days from when I first started diving and the original jetty was still intact and in use.

My thoughts are that the 'milk' is cause by colloidal gypsum, a legacy of years of gypsum loading here and the the long term exposure of the area to gypsum dust both directly and through run-off.
I am sure the sea bed surrounding the area is loaded with this super fine gymsum. A prolonged northerly fetch creates a ground surge which lifts the dust back into the water making it milky blue.

The visibility here is very good at the moment at around 10-15m. It's an odd kind of visibility with the the milkiness still there but at least now you can enjoy the old wives swimming among the pylons.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 681, Rapid Bay Looking Good', 1/160s f/11 ISO640 22mm+2D

I came across this pair of cuttlefish hovering over the broken bottom under Rapid Bay Jetty.

At first I thought they might be juvenile giant cuttlefish (Sepia apama) but as I watched I started to wonder if they were already full grown.

After some research and further deliberations I've decided the only thing I can be sure of is that they are very cute regardless.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 680, Cute Cuttlefish', 1/160s f/11 ISO640 40mm+2D

I have now seen three difference species of ray down at a Rapid Bay over the last few days.

This guy is a masked stingaree (Trygonoptera personata) and although common to South Australian coastal waters was not actually recognised as a unique species until relatively recently, in fact, about the same time I learned to scuba dive.

When I had seen these on previous dives I had mistaken them for juveniles but this little guy is probably a fully grown individual and was happy to just lay there and watch as we watched back.


Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 677, Being Watched', 1/100s f/18 ISO320 100mm+20mmExt

Our local Southern Calamari, Sepioteuthis australis, are amazing creatures able to change their body colour at will to match the surrounds.

During a moonless night however their chromatophores attempt to match the darkness and saturate with all kinds of intense colours. The moment you hit them with a a flash of white light they they show colours you would never have imagined. Just beautiful!

Despite the darkness this guy is keeping an eye out as we are diving in a popular squidding location off Rapid Bay Jetty. I'm sure he's safe from the chef's pan, at least for now!


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 675, Keeping An Eye Out' 1/100s f/18 ISO100+20mmExt

Today I did the rounds again checking up on my expecting anglerfish and leafy sea dragon and keeping up with the general comings and goings under Rapid Bay Jetty.

While I was down there a school of Six-spined Leatherjacket (Meuschenia freycineti) decided to make me their leader and follow me around. Where I turned around to take a photograph the question on their lips was obvious.


Photo: Robert Rath, 'Day 673, Dude, What Kind of Fish Are You?' 1/100s f/16 ISO320 100mm+20mmExt