I’m gonna let the images tell the story here, but here’s a quick brief on this electric corner of the world. Osprey Reef is like the wild west — it’s a seamount in the middle of nowhere in the Coral Sea east of the Lizard Island and the Great Barrier Reef. It barely rises an inch above the surface of the sea, and every thing from sharks to whales and mantas uses Osprey as a waypost, and oasis to rest, gather, eat or get eaten. On my last trip out aboard Mike Ball’s Spoilsport, we had minke whales, orcas, mantas, piles of sharks and grouper.
Then we meandered back to the northern barrier reef to a section called the Ribbon Reefs, and hit all the hot spots: Cod Hole, Steve’s Bommie, Challenger Bay, Pixie Pinnacle, among others and the world came to greet us. Minke whales hung out under the boat, massive potato cod nuzzled us, cuttlefish, lionfish and heaps of anthias and other tropicals that flit and dash over the reef like autumn leaves caught in the wind.
It’s all liveaboard country here. Enjoy the pics.
The boat: mikeball.com — go in late June, early July to see the Minke’s.
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