The gully

Our last dive of this excursion put us near a very small island on the way back. Descending down the rock wall covered in algae and coralline algae we reached the cobbled bottom. Less fish in this spot left us with lots of time to observe many of the wondrous invertebrates that hung to the walls and rocks of this barren. Chitons, anemones, urchins were abound as we followed along the rock wall on our way to the boulder field.

As we continued, we eventually reached a break in the rock wall, forming a particularly wide gully. The current forcing its way through gap in the rock created a pristine environment for filter feeding organisms. Great fingers of sponge reached outward to increase their exposure to the passing water, and among them, small anemones gathered in abundance on projections of rock that protruded from the wall.

This current was strong enough to push Jan and I through with no effort on our part. For taking pictures, it made a difficult challenge to stay still long enough to keep things in focus.

On the other side of the gully, great boulders were strewn across the landscape and here the fish abundance once again bloomed. On every cobble between the boulders, small triplefins darted, chasing one another in and under the cobbles. Large marblefish occasionally swam out from under their boulders while large groups of red moki, uninhibited by our presence, congregated and interacted with each other.

After loosing site of our other divers, we remained at the gully near the rendezvous point for returning to the boat. Again we wandered through this magnificent assortment of colour and texture. Things we missed the first time, including delicate vase sponges and brightly coloured cook's turban snails.

We also noticed some yellow morays hiding in some of the crevices where boulders met at the sea floor. 

On the way back to where we entered the water, we found even more invertebrates, including a wild paua or abalone, which until now I had only seen in the lab. On our way up to our safety stop, we found yet more of this magnificent life, competing for any real estate on the rock wall, increasing in abundance the closer to the surface where sunlight would be at a premium.

With the day coming to a close and our air tanks dwindling, we returned to the surface to the awaiting boat. The sun clearly past it's apex and on its way down to the west, we pulled into Manganui and offloaded the gear. A great weekend with good company and fantastic views. Diving in these waters was definitely one of the best spots I have yet dove in New Zealand.