Not more than five minutes into Sunday night’s dive I was thinking that it was a really bad idea going diving on dusk with no lighting and a high tide bringing rough seas pounding over the reef filling the water with vision sapping debris.

Still this was a shakedown dive and the principle objective was to practice photography in extremely poor lighting conditions. It seems I got my wish.

What you don’t get to see in this barren reef bashed image is just how prolific the fish life becomes on Port Noarlunga Reef when the conditions are rough. Aside from the usual suspects there where schools of trevally, yellow-fin whiting, cruising Port Jackson sharks, bulls-eyes and herring cale. I could even hear dolphin chatter amid the crashing ocean soundscape.

Not much fun for photography but a thoroughly enjoyable dive!

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Apocalypse Dive’, 1/250s f/4.5 ISO2500 16mm