Video: Diving the Ribbon Reefs on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
The Ribbon Reefs are a string of ten large reefs that together form the outer edge of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. One feature of the Ribbons is that they serve to shelter the inner reef from big storm damage.
The Ribbon Reefs are home to some of the GBR’s most popular dive sites. “Steve’s Bommie”, “Lighthouse Bommie” and “Cod Hole” are among the best known. But there are also other more recently discovered sites that were real standouts on our recent expedition.
“Acropolis” is one of the sites that is new to me. It boasts the most perfect fields of Acropora coral I have ever seen. Table corals that are 12′ / 3.6m in diameter are common here. Uninterrupted fields of Staghorn corals extend beyond the 100′ / 30m visibility in all directions. Coral cover is close to 100% on this reef. Such coral density is getting rare enough these days… but considering this whole region recently slept through Cyclone Yasi, then the still-pristine state of “Acropolis” is testament to the resilience of coral reefs, the protection the “barrier” offers the inner reef, and the general patchiness of storm damage.
Liz and I dived and worked on the Ribbon Reefs a decade ago—in fact, it’s where we first met. During our expedition last month, we were thrilled to see the sites were in even better condition now than when we last saw them. Familiar coral heads and bommies seem to have more fish than ever. The corals are in better condition, and of course bigger than they were 10 years ago. The many anemones I used to film each week have found new tenants, but are still right where I last saw them: True clownfish have replaced the Pink anemonefish on top of “Steve’s Bommie”, while Barrier Reef anemonefish have replaced Spinecheeks a little further down the site. It was like returning to an old neighbourhood… some faces may have changed, but the same houses stand strong.
This video shows a mix of underwater footage from the Ribbon Reefs dive sites. I hope it doesn’t take another 10 years before I re-visit them again.
—Josh
Beautiful ! Makes me wish I was there right now….
Great montage Josh; love the final shot with the sea snake rising towards the surface, with the myriad fish above. So, are the Ribbon Reefs better than Fiji…? 😉
Thanks Todd. Ribbon Reefs -vs- Fiji…? Like apples and oranges, too different to compare fairly!
Stunning Josh . . . brings me right back to Acropolis. Agree that it rivals Mary Island as one of the healthiest hard coral sites. Nice observation about Yasi – the fact that it made it through is very encouraging . . . what a great trip that was thanks to you and Liz and the Ribbons and Minkes!
Thanks Shaz, if only we could drag minkes along on all our trips 🙂
Excellent video, Josh!
Thanks Rosanna 🙂
Wauw.. beautyful…. … lovely shots, peacefull, great music behind it… i know the song, but what is it again… thats the only frustrating thing in the video… really going there one day..
Greetinfs from the Netherlands..