Slightly off the photography topic, but important nonetheless.  Protect our Coral Sea Ambassador, actress Isabel Lucas, and her musician boyfriend Angus Stone have made a fantastic short video ‘Coral Sea Love’ asking people to show their Love for the Coral Sea by sending off a submission for the draft Coral Sea Marine Reserve this Valentine’s Day. Julia Stone’s beautiful song In the City of Lights features on the video.

The Coral Sea marine park draft plan, put forth by Environmental Minister Tony Burke, will be open for public submissions until February 24th 2012.  I have been working hard on the Protect Our Coral Sea Campaign to create more environmental protection of the area. Currently only 2 of the 25 reefs are protected from fishing pressure under the new plan.  One of the amazing things about this proposal is that with up to 90% of the large fish taken from our oceans (or ‘eaten’ as Dr Sylvia Earle puts it in her famous Ted prize talk – very worth a watch), the proposed marine reserve is large enough to create effective protection for these big ocean wanderers.  However improvements are needed, like the removal of longliners from the southern Coral Sea which has been identified as a global biodiversity hotspot for apex ocean predators.

Isabel Lucas and Angus Stone have created the Coral Sea Love video encouraging people to send their rapid submission via protectourcoralsea.org and ask the government to make these improvements.  Please help us improve protection for the Coral Sea.

Here is what Isabel Lucas has to say:

“I’d like to send a message to our federal environment minister…THANK YOU, Environment Minister Tony Burke for protecting the eastern half of the Coral Sea in your draft plan for this iconic part of our blue Australia. THANK YOU for banning oil and gas exploration, mining and longline fishing in the Coral Sea Marine Park. And also THANK YOU for recently noting that the “Coral Sea was a near-pristine area with abundant marine life that deserves protection”

HOWEVER Mr Burke….in your current proposal for the Coral Sea, only 2 out of the 25 coral reefs are fully protected. All the other reefs are open to some kind of fishing or harvesting.

So fellow lovers of our oceans, on this Valentine’s Day I ask you to show your love for the beautiful Coral Sea and please join with me by asking Mr Burke to better protect the coral reefs in our Coal Sea!

Sending your Coral Sea submission to Tony Burke via www.protectourcoralsea.org.au will take less time than brushing your teeth…”

Isabel Lucas, Protect our Coral Sea Ambassador.

Frederick Reef is just a dot in a very large ocean, the tip of an ancient undersea volcano rising steeply from 2,500m to the surface and on top of which over thousands of years, a coral reef in the shape of a ‘J’ has formed.   The coral changes in form depending on where it is located on the reef, on the exposed side where the swell of the ocean rises up into breaking waves the coral grows like the hardy shrubs on a windswept mountain – low and close to the ground.  It is here that we expect to find evidence of the Royal Charlotte striking the reef.  Travelling from the south, with the ocean swell and strong south-easterly gale behind them, the sound of the roaring breakers in the night was the terrifying sound which alerted the ship’s crew to the presence of a reef – too late.

Millions of years have shaped these reefs.  The story of a shipwreck and the intervening 200 years before we travel out into the Coral Sea to search for it is less than the blink of an eyelid in the timeline of this ocean.   It is believed that Frederick Reef at times of lower sea-levels was an island that has since been submerged by rising sea-levels.  Now, it is only two sand cays (one at the north end and one at the south end) and ‘Ridge Rock’ which remain above sea level.  It would have been a bewildering, frightening and very lonely place to find yourself shipwrecked in 1825.

The remote nature of the Coral Sea reefs means that each of these reefs is unique in terms of its fish and coral populations. As an underwater photographer I find this intriguing, when you head to a Coral Sea reef it is a bit like a ‘mystery box’ or Forest Gump’s ‘box of chocolates’ – you never know quite what you are going to get.  What you do know is you will find beautiful clear waters, and stunning underwater seascapes.  Another exciting aspect is that the Coral Sea has been identified as a global biodiversity hotspot for pelagic predators (sharks, tuna, billfish, etc.) and if you love sharks like I do, that is a wonderful concept in a world where shark populations are in sharp decline.  The federal government is deciding the fate of this hotspot right now – so if you believe in shark and ocean conservation, please make sure you have your say.

Although we have the help of two survivors accounts, these accounts contradict each other in the location of the wreck compared to the main landmark of the reef – the sand cay.  The other clue we have is the shape of the reef itself.  It is all the small clues – wind and sailing direction of the ship, descriptions in the account, the movement of the current – that are used by the archaeologists to start our search in the area of greatest probability for success.

The research and piecing together of clues pays off, on our first dive of the expedition timber is found.  A piece of wood may not sound exciting, however when it potentially comes from a shipwreck nearly 200 years old the hand signals being used for communication get significantly more animated!  If there is one artefact then possibly there are more nearby and a quick search pattern reveals a large metal bracket (over a metre in length), later identified as a staple knee which is used to hold deck timbers together.  You cannot exchange words underwater but you can certainly communicate; the energy and smiles were lighting up the ocean.

This was a great start, but a piece of timber does not make a shipwreck and this piece was a long way from the reef edge, on the sandy bottom of the lagoon.  What those two artefacts did give us though was a starting point.  Over the next few days teams searched using manta boards, snorkel lines, underwater metal detectors and magnetometers.  Our eyes became trained to find the unnatural: straight lines, the green of copper or the black of iron, even the round shape of Thames River gravel which was used as ballast.  Often excited moments were followed by the solemn shake of an experts head as they kindly informed us our grand find was a piece of dead coral.  The searching was productive though, as each artefact was found and photographed, then mapped and sketched it added to a picture that was beginning to emerge.

We had dives when we were certain this was going to be the moment, this must be where the ship was wrecked, and then we would return with only a few clues: a piece of ceramic half buried, a small amount of anchor chain, a few fragments of glass.  The Charlotte must be close, but it was eluding us, all the clues were suggesting we were in the right area, this was the right age of ship, but where was the anchor?  Where was the canon?  Then one morning I got a call across the radio “Xanthe would you like to do one more dive with us this morning?” one of the dive teams casually asked.  Now generally, there are two reasons I might get a call that: 1) they know that I love diving and any time spent underwater or 2) I am the photographer and if you have found something special then you want it photographed and hence I get a call.  I tried to keep my hopes in check.  Maybe they have just found another amazing dive site??  That would still be quite alright in my books.  When I got to the site on the outer edge of the reef, beyond the surf break, their eyes and huge smiles gave them away.  “It’s the anchor, a 12ft long and 6ft across anchor the right shape and everything”.

On the 4th January 2012 I joined a team from the Australian National Maritime Museum and Silentworld Foundation steaming out towards the Coral Sea.  Overnight we passed the edge of the Great Barrier Reef and entered the deep, beautiful, blue waters of the Coral Sea. We are travelling to the Coral Sea in search of shipwrecks.  The Australian National Maritime Museum and Silentworld Foundation have joined forces to bring an expedition team of archaeologists, volunteer divers and experienced crew to this remote location in search of the Royal Charlotte, a ship wrecked in 1825. This is not an easy place to reach, our journey to Frederick Reef (400km off the Queensland coast) is a 36hr steam in a modern vessel.  Once you pass the Great Barrier Reef you are in open ocean, but the weather was being very kind to us, with blue skies overhead and flying fish skimming across the water.

The reefs of the Coral Sea are different to the large interconnected system of the Great Barrier Reef.  Here the reefs rise up from thousands of metres of water, the tips of oceanic mountains.  The deep-water inbetween the reef holds its own treasures: some of the oceans top predators including sharks, whales, billfish and tuna.  These are the fish and animals at the top of the ocean food chain, playing an important role in keeping the ecosystem in balance.  The Coral Sea is indeed a special place, any visit is a privilege.   To be here joining a team of archaeologists on a search for its history is amazing.  Meanwhile I am also well aware that currently its fate is being decided in the far away halls of Canberra.  Well actually, right now the draft plan for the Coral Sea is open to public feedback and anyone can make a submission, and it is important we all do.  You can protect the Coral Sea by signing the petition on this page.

An afternoon pitstop at Saumarez Reef has been decided on.  Saumarez Reef has two sand cays, one at either end of its long crescent of reef.  We tucked up behind the reef, close to the wreck of the Francis Preston Blair which sits high on the reef. During World War 2 a Japanese submarine was pursuing the ship when its Captain chose to run it aground rather than face being torpedoed and sunk in the deep waters around Saumarez.  Today it is home to a colony of birds including Frigates and Boobies.  Their droppings have allowed grass to grow on the decks and a new coat of whitewash to develop.

Snorkelling on a coral bommie (a small pinnacle of coral rising up from the sand and separate to the main reef) we watch a pair of grey reef or whaler sharks which are patrolling the reef edge, their sleek shape and powerful muscles moving them easily through the water.  The water is clear, very clear and very blue.  The sand in the lagoon is a beautiful white, laid down in ripples that disappear into the distance, but the sun is setting, marking the time to return to the boat.

Arriving at Frederick Reef in the early morning the sun is still low on the water, and the angle makes it hard to define the patches of coral.   Our vessel stays clear of the reef until the sun climbs higher, turning the lagoon a beautiful aqua, with the greens, yellows and blacks of the reef clearly showing the coral patchwork below.  The captain nudges the boat into a safe place to anchor as we watch the landscape transforming with the changing light.  This is my second visit to Frederick Reef, and I am very happy to be back.  The beautiful lagoon and underwater landscapes have stayed fresh in my memory.  Looking at the sand cay now, I send my brain back into my memory banks, I am sure it was much smaller just over a year ago, but that is the dynamic nature of these reefs.

About the Royal Charlotte and the Wrecking:

The Royal Charlotte was an Indian built ship used to carry trade between England, Australia and India. She was also used as a convict transport before being commissioned to carry troops (and their families) from Sydney to India.  It was during this voyage in 1825 that she was wrecked on Frederick Reef,  which had at that time been charted – but in the wrong place.  She left Sydney under a stormy sky and the gales and storms persisted with the Royal Charlotte as she travelled north into the Coral Sea.  One of the officer’s wives had given birth just three days before the voyage.  At the mercy of nature, it must have been a terrifying experience for those unaccustomed to the sea.  Here is a short extract from one of the two survivor’s accounts which survive today, these accounts were used to help the archeologists narrow down the search area on Frederick Reef:

“At eight bells the fore and main-topsails were double-reefed, the mizzen-topsails and main-courses handed and every other necessary preparation made for a stormy night, which we now had every reason to expect… about half past ten o’clock, she broached in a squall and split every sail, fore and aft…the gale soon increased to a perfect hurricane, and blew the canvass out of the bolt-ropes; while the shreds that remained of the sails cracked dreadfully in the wind.”  The gale abated on the 14^th of June but heavy seas, storms and strong winds continued allowing the Royal Charlotte to travel at the fast rate of 9knots.  It was at this speed on the 20^th June that she struck Frederick reef and was driven her full length onto the coral.

“All hands were immediately ordered to the pumps; but the depth of water in the hold increased in spite of every effort.  Vivid flashes of lighting, that at times illuminated the whole horizon was succeeded by loud peals of thunder, while the roaring of the surf, the crashing of the ship on the rocks, and the dismal cries of the women and children who crowded on the deck added to the uncertainty of the fate that awaited us.  “The breakers, as they rolled in unremitting succession over the precipice, broke close to the ship’s forefoot, and covered her as far as the waist, while we expected every moment that the bows would be stove in, and that she would go to pieces.”

I was recently interviewed by the Inner West Courier about my underwater photography and participation in the Protect Our Coral Sea photography exhibition.  The resulting article by Rashell Habib is below:

“UNDERWATER photography is Xanthe Rivett’s love. She is happiest when she is somewhere she can blow bubbles. Rivett is one of several underwater photographers whose work will be showcased at Strathfield Plaza next week. ‘I find underwater photography is an opportunity to bring the underwater world topside,’ she said.
‘When I’m down there floating around in this beautiful world, it is really about how I can bring, even a bit of the essence of this to the people out there.’

Rivett has also filmed and produced a number of videos on the underwater world. Her current chosen diving venue is the Coral Sea.  ‘The Coral Sea has completely captured my heart, it is an isolated wilderness and really unspoiled.’

Rivett’s work will help Pew Environment Group Australia continue the Protect our Coral Sea campaign.  Pew is calling on the federal government to establish a protected marine park in the Coral Sea that will provide a safe haven for marine life”

It is Minke Magic time again.  Divers, snorkellers and underwater photographers are all lining up to head out into the Great Barrier Reef to get up close with the Minke Whales.  This special event happens for just two months each year.  At this point it is not fully understood where the dwarf minke whales come from, or where they go to.  What is known is that the travel through the deep waters of the Coral Sea (off the continental shelf) and then move into the shallower waters around the Ribbon Reefs for what appears to be a time of socialising.  Experience a close encounter with Minke Whales is a special experience.  Watch this great video for more information.  If you wish to experience an encounter, make sure you travel with an operator that has a Minke Whale Permit.  These operators all contribute to scientific research and our knowledge of Minke Whales, in addition they have signed up to a strict code of conduct to protect the whales and ensure encounters do not adversely impact their behaviour.

‘The Coral Sea: Our Ocean Paradise’ exhibition opens this week in Cairns and aims to capture the beauty of the Coral Sea with 25-pieces of underwater art. This is a group exhibition and I am proud to have some of my work featured alongside artists such as Jurgen Freund, Mark Spencer, Lucy Tripett, Tyrone Canning and Nicola Temple.

The exhibition is in support of the Protect Our Coral Sea campaign, a joint effort supported by regional, national and international conservation organisations. This year, we are calling on the federal government to establish a very large, world-class,highly protected marine park in the Coral Sea that will provide a safe haven for marine life and recognise its historic significance.

The images will be on display at:
Stockland Shopping Centre, Earlville  3-5th June 2011.
Smithfield Shopping Centre Cairns 27th-29th May 2011
Cairns Central Shopping Centre 13th-22nd May 2011

For more information on the exhibition, please visit:
http://www.protectourcoralsea.org.au/news-media/north-queensland-upcoming-events

This year the Cairns Underwater Film Festival (CUFF) is back and I am proud to be involved both as a board member and also a photo competition judge.  Although one look at the prize pool is enough to make me wish I was entering!  There are some incredible prizes on offer to top destinations.  The underwater photography competition requires entries to be taken in the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea.

Previously the festival has been run as a business by Christian Botella, however this year he has handed the running over to a team (the CUFF board) of volunteers, which Christian is still a part of.  The CUFF team then made the unanimous decision to volunteer their time and return all profit from the festival back to the community through donations to local marine conservation groups and other worthwhile causes.  Please visit the CUFF website for more information on this years festival and also the photo competition.