As we ascended into the shallows a strong current pulled us across a series of patch reefs. It was exciting to dodge around each patch reef, winding our way around, not quite sure what we would see around the next corner. The coral was a lot patchier, but there were lots of bright orange Anthias fish to look at, unicorn fish and the occasional tuna. It is sad to see so few sharks during our dives, reflecting how depleted the populations are in Fiji, especially in comparison to the healthy shark populations we saw on the Phoenix Rising Expedition in 2000. My experience in these two expeditions has really highlighted to me the need to do more to protect sharks in Fiji and other parts of the Pacific.
Sharks are still so misunderstood as dangerous sea creatures.
On the contrary, they are generally very shy when people enter the water. David and I focused our efforts on the patch reefs above the wall. The current was strong again and we had to literally pull ourselves along the bottom, holding on to bare rock and dead coral to get around some of the reefs. David worked mainly on taking still photos of hard and soft corals to assist in identifications later. I recorded four species of sea cucumbers, and two species of giant clams - Tridacna derasa and Tridacna squamosa .