I have admired the work of Howard and Michele Hall for years. In fact, their work is the main reason I first started diving. They are leaders in underwater photography with beautiful photos, IMAX films and documentaries from around the world. They have done an amazing job over the past 40years bringing the underwater world to those who don’t see it for themselves. Unbelievably, I was offered a spot on a three week adventure aboard the Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions in South Australia with Howard and Michele as well as many other admirable photographers. I joined them part way through the trip and was welcomed by an amazing crew and guests. First stop was with the Australian Sea Lions, who are among the most gorgeous and most photographed sea lions in the world. The playful critters approached divers, admired their reflection in camera ports and teased patiently waiting photographers by playing behind them.

Next up was the Leafy Sea Dragons. Unfortunately these dragons’ numbers have been declining in recent years due to the aquarium trade. Their beauty and elegance makes them an enchanting form of entertainment, and I spent many dives watching them swaying, undulating and flitting with the surge.

The Giant Cuttlefish migrate to Whyalla, South Australia to mate after which they die. The shallow water wasn’t very clear but everyone was still able to get some great shots. The cuttlefish communicate by changing colour pigments – these flashes and waves of colour look spectacular and the interactions between males, females and ‘sneaker males’ is fascinating to watch. The young males impersonate females to get close to mating pairs, they then swoop in and try to take the female from the dominant male. These sneaker males surprisingly do quite well with this technique, with a success rate of 60%!

The Neptune islands in South Australia have for many years been one of the worlds well known Great White hotspots. This is what I was looking forward to – cage diving with Great Whites. The Rodney Fox Expeditions is the only place in the world that you can do bottom cage diving, where the shark cage is lowered to 23meters with chum and four divers in it. I watched in awe as these gorgeous creatures came in and out of view. They are incredibly graceful and sleek, a side of them that many of the general public don’t see. Every cage dive is different; different sharks in different moods create a range of atmospheres to experience. I didn’t see any aggressive action on my dives but heard from other divers about sharks gnawing on the cage and scraping against camera dome ports. The Rodney Fox Trust assist an existing programme run by CSIRO where the public are able to adopt a shark; this gives the supporter the opportunity to name a  shark and follow its movements via an acoustic tag.

After long days diving, no one had ever had enough – the nights on board the Fox boat were spent gathered around laptops watching summaries of the day’s spectacular videos and photo plays; 3foot long cuttlefish fighting, sea dragons rising and falling, sea lions leaping and teasing or sharks gliding past or biting cages. Every now and then we would also have story time – when Howard would bring out his laptop and show us slideshows and videos of his trips filming for IMAX.

I had an amazing time on board – the crew were all very welcoming and accommodating. Thank you to Andrew Fox, Jen, Pato and Pete for inviting me along and showing me the beautiful wildlife of South Australia. I also met a gang of wonderful underwater photographers and filmmakers, whose advice and friendship I will take with me on my travels ahead. A big thank you to Howard and Michele Hall for organising the trip, it was fantastic to be in such company.

Other guests on the trip included:
Joe Robinson
Ruth Petzold
Rob Hall
Susan Scarlett
John Scarlett
Douglas and Emily Seifert
Jayne Jenkins
Jan Reyniers