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The Captain’s Blog: The Ocean Calendar
Another Blog from Mike Ball Dive Expedition’s Captain Trevor Jackson…
“What are the tides Daddy”?
It’s an easy enough question to answer to an adult… but when your three year old son asks from the back seat of the car, surprisingly, things get tricky. No point trying to explain gravity and orbital mechanics in this instance… so I had to think on my feet.
“The tides are like the ocean breathing darling, a big breath in and all the water flows in toward the land, then breathe out and it rushes back out to sea.”
I pondered my cleverness for a second, but my self congratulatory moment was short lived… the six year old chimed in with a doozie.
“Dad how do Minkes know when to come back each year?”.
“Well that’s easy honey, they just check out the ocean calendar”…
“The Ocean Calendar?!! What’s that?”
So now I was in a pickle, my bluff had been called and if I wasn’t going to be branded a fake by the kids… a decent answer was required!
“Well, all the Minkes have to do is watch what’s going on around them and they can tell exactly what time of year it is…The Ocean Calendar is deadly accurate.”
Now… my kids aren’t stupid, they smelt a giant wharf rat, so they pressed me…
“Give us some examples!”.
I paused for a second and then realized, this might just be easier than I thought…
“Well it goes like this… In January , the seas are like glass. In March, the baby turtles hatch. In May, the humpbacks remind the Minkes It’s time to come to Queensland, so in June, they do. Hot on their heels, the Hammerhead Sharks arrive at Osprey, and that reminds the Marlin it’s nearly time for them to show up in September. Then in November the Coral Spawns so that tells the turtles it’s time to go to Raine island just in time to lay their eggs so the babies can hatch in March…you see it’s like mums yearly planner”.
A quick glance in the rear vision mirror told me I had successfully bluffed my way through this particular inquisition, but when I thought about it later… I realized, the ocean calendar kind of does exist. If I were to look out the wheelhouse windows and see a Minke, I would know it was mid winter… and now that November is upon us… well, Raine Island here we come, the turtles await.
Find the expedition you are looking for at: www.mikeball.com/compare-expeditions
Scubaverse is proud to announce that renowned underwater photographer Jane Morgan is the first to join our newly launched underwater photography team, alongside team lead Saeed Rashid.
With a career spanning over two decades, Jane brings a wealth of experience, creativity, and passion for the ocean. After learning to dive in 1991, Jane’s early work in marine conservation and scuba instruction in the Philippines and Borneo laid the foundation for what would become a distinguished career in underwater photojournalism.
A chance encounter with a film camera in Egypt in 2001 sparked a lifelong passion for underwater photography. Since then, Jane’s captivating imagery has been featured in top publications around the world, from major magazines and newspapers to books and exhibitions. She has worked with the BBC, judged prestigious competitions, and earned accolades including the Plongeur d’Or at the Festival Mondial de l’Image Sous-Marine.
Now based in Cornwall, Jane dives the UK coast year-round, championing its often-overlooked marine biodiversity. She is also a proud ambassador for DYNAMICNORD and Fathoms Free, lending her voice and lens to ocean conservation efforts.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Scubaverse underwater photography team,” says Jane. “It’s an exciting opportunity to share stories from beneath the surface and connect more people with the incredible beauty—and fragility—of our oceans.”
Scubaverse founder Dave Alexander adds, “Jane is one of my absolute favourite underwater photographers, and having her on board is a huge moment for us. Her talent, passion, and dedication to marine storytelling make her an ideal fit for the team.”
We’re just getting started… come back tomorrow to meet the next member of our underwater photography dream team!
This week only – your donation to the Shark Trust will be doubled – at no extra cost to you!
This week only – your donation to the Shark Trust will be doubled – at no extra cost to you!The Shark Trust are raising vital funds for their Community Engagement Programme: empowering people to learn about sharks and rays, assisting the scientific community take action for elasmobranchs, and bring communities together to become ambassadors for change.
Every £1 you give = £2 for shark conservation. A donation of £10 becomes £20, £50 becomes £100! Help us reach our target of £10,000, if successful, this will be doubled to £20,000 by the Big Give.
Every donation makes DOUBLE the impact!
Monty Halls is backing this week of fundraising “Cousteau called sharks the “splendid savage of the sea”, and even through the more benign lens of modern shark interactions it remains a good description. The reefs I dived thirty years ago teemed with sharks, the perfect result of 450 million years of evolution. Today those same reefs are silent, the blue water empty of those elegant shadows. But hope remains that if one generation has created such devastation, so the next can reverse the damage that has been done. The Shark Trust are at the forefront of that fight.“
To find out more about the work of the Shark Trust visit their website here.
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