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17/07/2008: "UNDERWATER PHOTO ART ..... "The Night Dive""
I believe that night diving off charter boats in the Cairns area and further north was discontinued due to the big sharks being a little too curious.
Other factors would involve rescuing anyone in trouble, in the dark. So it's not just the big sharks that is the worry.
Richard Weir was the deckhand on Coralita and his hobby7 was collecting exotic live sea shells on night dives, in The Coral Sea.
With just a small torch he'd dive alone in the lagoon area which were the preferred anchored. Water depth rarely exceeding 15 meters.
A scary time was the night he was confused by a rising near-full moon thinking it was the lights of the charter boat nearby. Water visibility was crystal clear, about 50 meters.
A big shark found Richard and began circling. He decided to surface and swim to Coralita.
Horror. The charter boat was 200 meters away. He'd been swimming toward the full moon by mistake.
Then his torch (flashlight) battery went flat. In the dark with a big shark somewhere nearby.
Not a good situation to be in. It ended OK and he made it back to the boat.
