Reef Report - Spoilsport December 2007

Expeditions:	06 December, 2007	10 December, 2007	13 December, 2007
	17 December, 2007	20 December, 2007	24 December, 2007
	27 December, 2007	31 December, 2007

Spoilsport - 31 December, 2007

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones Our Southbound guests began with a fantastic low level flight from Cairns to Lizard island over the Great Barrier Reef. We headed out to dive the Cod Hole, which was so good we decided to stay there for the rest of the year. The New Year was welcomed with a glass of champagne and New Years Day brought a day of fantastic diving and great weather around the bottom of the Ribbon Refs #10 at sites including Acropolis, Lighthouse Bommie and Challenger Bay. Our third and final day of diving was spent at Steve’s Bommie and Flare point, another day with near perfect weather. Among the highlights of the trip were a close pass by a pod of dolphins to the vessel while moored at the Cod Hole, with dolphins coming quite close to some of the lucky snorkellers. Other highlights included close encounters with turtles and sea snakes. Three days of excellent weather and great diving gave a great start to the new year.
Guest Photo Competition	Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place

Norbert Kohtschein - cuttle fish.	Norbert Kohtschein - clam.	Irene Weinz - lion fish.
Guest Comments
Josh Morris, USA. “The diving brought us, but the dive staff, trip director and food will be our reason to return.”
David Palumbo, USA. “The dives and reef locations were beautiful: many sites to see, all enhanced with a great crew and ship.”
Jon Davies, Wales. “The crew – the facilities on the dive deck for cameras.”

Spoilsport - 27 December, 2007

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones This trip we welcomed aboard a group of 17 divers from Abyss Scuba Diving (Sydney Australia) along with 11 other guests from Germany, Hong Kong, Italy and Australia. We began with the best of the Great Barrier Reef, diving Challenger Bay and the Cod Hole on Ribbon Reef #10. One of the highlights was the Rhinopias (lacy scorpion fish) spotted at the Cod Hole, a very rare fish indeed. Divers also spotted several white-tip reef sharks, angel fish, anemone fish and of course the potato cod which give the Cod Hole its name. We then headed out to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea, where although our activities were slightly constrained by the weather, guests still enjoyed some great diving with sheer walls and drop offs, great visibility and some great marine life were seen, including a hammerhead shark and harlequin ghost pipe fish. The trip ended with a fantastic low level flight across the Great Barrier Reef to Cairns.
Guest Photo Competition	Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place

Paul Azzopardi - flowery cod.	Paul Azzopardi - moray eel.	Karin Fischer - christmas tree worm.
Guest Comments
Paul Azzopardi, Australia. “Our expectations were met and exceeded!!”
Julia Beck, Australia. “Great staff – always attentive to our needs and wants, special mention to Brett who was fantastic with my sea sick friend.”
Karin Fischer-Wilsmann, Germany. “Top dive sites, Top service, Top Vessel, best ever seen.”

Spoilsport - 24 December, 2007

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones The southbound leg of our trip began with a walking tour on Lizard Island for our week long guests, and a scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef for those new guests joining us. Diving began at the Cod Hole, where divers saw huge potato cod up close, white-tip reef sharks, and a couple of eagle eyed divers spotted a very rare and elusive rhinopias or lacy scorpion fish. On the Challenger Bay night dive close to twenty pleuro-branch’s were spotted and the following morning (Christmas Day), Santa gave a manta ray encounter to two lucky divers who must have been very good indeed. Excellent weather and sea conditions continued throughout the trip, giving all divers a very merry Christmas.
Guest Photo Competition	Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place

Lorenz Fischer - lacey scorpion fish.	Karin Fischer - lion fish.	Chris Pashley - flat worm.
Guest Comments
Christina Stratton, USA. ”Osprey Reef diving, the awesome staff and trip director Kerrin was really good – and the food ROCKED.”
Mike Howard, Australia. “The crews ability to make everyday fresh and bright. The team work and personal attention was more than we expected.”
Chris Pashley, Australia. “The crew made a huge difference, they provided entertainment as well as service, plus being very helpful and supportive. The boat and the diving are excellent. We loved the food and the whole experience.”

Spoilsport - 20 December, 2007

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones This trip we began our diving at Flare Point and the Clam Beds – with divers enjoying the excellent hard corals, giant clams and great variety of fish life. Great weather provided a smooth ride out to osprey reef where divers experienced sheer drop offs, walls covered in soft corals and plenty of sharks, especially at our North Horn Shark feed. Other Osprey reef sites included Admiralty Anchor, with plenty of great caves and swim through's and False Entrance with great topography for the divers to enjoy. Guests also enjoyed the great meals provided by our chef Simon and the reef ecology program by our Video Pro laurence .
Guest Photo Competition	Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place

Karin Fischer - shark feed.	Richard Jones - moray eel.	Yukio Hosoya - grey reef shark.
Guest Comments
Philip Evans, South Africa. “Impossible to name one thing, the whole experience was 100% - best holiday ever.”
Richard Jones, Ireland. “Very friendly staff, more than happy to help others with anything – shark feeding was amazing.”

Spoilsport - 17 December, 2007

Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote Lighthouse Bommie – Piotr was excited to have seen for the first time in his very extensive diving career 2 orangutan crabs. Pixie gardens – a huge manta ray was seen for a short while by most of the boat passengers and crew. At Challenger Bay an amazing dive was had by all with loads of free swimming moray eels, flowery cod out hunting and also many pleuro-branch’s cruising around, with one even having an emperor shrimp.
Guest Photo Competition	Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place

Alek Ostasz - manta ray.	Piotr Pazola - potato cod.	Maciek Uciedchoski - leafy scorpion fish.
Guest Comments
Bethanie King, UK. "I am new to the whole thing, came for the Sydney Hobart – left a diver – have a horrible feeling I have started with the best… great attention to detail, well organised – total confidence - thank you.”
Mark Stabb, USA. "Great dive locations, good dives, nice explanation of specific sites to see with directions."

Spoilsport - 13 December, 2007

Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote Highlights from this trip – at the Cod Hole Julia and Dave were extremely lucky to have swum with dolphins. Out at the Cora Sea - at Admiralty Anchor three lionfish were seen hunting the small bait fish. And at North Horn Maciet, Piotr and Jurek from Poland got to see a huge manta ray. Katrin from Melbourne was fortunate enough to witness the mating frivolities of 3 large male Napoleon wrasses – vying for the attention of upwards of 10 females.
Guest Photo Competition	Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place

Piotr Pazola - manta ray.	Piotr Pazola - divers.	Simon Colins - turtle.
Guest Comments
Stefan Widder, Australia. “The perfect organisation and service/friendly staff.”
Edwin Fox, USA. “Great friendly attention from the staff and expert knowledge.”

Spoilsport - 10 December, 2007

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones For guests joining us for the southbound leg of the trip it all began with a fantastic low level scenic flight from Cairns to Lizard Island, with great views of the Great Barrier Reef. We kicked off the diving at the Cod Hole, then made our way south down the ribbon reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. Dive sites visited included Lighthouse Bommie, Pixie Gardens and Steve’s Bommie. Divers spotted plenty of interesting marine life including sea snakes, sharks , turtles, cuttlefish and a variety of anemone fish. The excellent weather continued , providing smooth sailing and plenty of sunshine
Guest Photo Competition	Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place

Javier Brosch - dolphin.	Justin Pickering - white-tip reef shark.	Diane Maderas - clam.

Spoilsport - 06 December, 2007

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones For this weeks trip we welcomed aboard 28 divers, 12 for just the north bound leg followed by a scenic flight across the Great Barrier Reef back to Cairns, and 16 who would stay with us for the whole week. Divers hailed from the USA, UK, Germany, Belgium, Holland and New Zealand. We began our trip with the best of the Great Barrier Reef, Cod Hole and Challenger Bay, with divers enjoying close encounters with huge potato cod, white-tip reef sharks and some excellent coral as well as the usual variety of coral reef fish. The following two day were spent diving Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea with great visibility, lots of big soft corals, steep drop off’s and plenty of sharks, especially at the exciting North Horn shark feed. Weather was excellent through out the trip.
Guest Photo Competition	Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place

Ron Fenner - lion fish.	Shahaira de Cuba - anemone fish.	Shahaira de Cuba - potato cod.