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Australia Marine Picture Library
“OUR FUTURE – AN UNKNOWN ADVENTURE”
John Harding Marine Photography: 1960 – 2010
fathom (Registered trade mark, Australia)
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John Harding 1990
It was far from the end of the road for the V8 Ford in the background. We did another 200,000km before retiring the ‘old girl’.
Too much weight (projectors, film and diving gear) being carried eventually caused the damage here. Plus the 5km of rough dirt road that linked Seal Rocks to the holiday township of Forster on the mid north New South Wales coast.
The Ford did over 500,000 km around Australia. Since then a even greater ‘mileage’ in a Toyota 4Runner.
The \\Australian Seafari\\ film shows no longer occur – coinciding with a decline in scuba dive shop takings. I’d like to think there was some connection but as the decline is happening everywhere there are obviously other factors as to why scuba diving is no longer considered a must-do high adventure activity.
Scuba diving is not a ‘competitive sport’ and has never been one. It’s been something unique and better than a competitive recreation sport, yet only when sufficient time has been devoted to understanding all the aspects of what can be entailed.
In Taiwan there are two huge **ocean universities** which teach every known aspect of working with the sea.
In USA there is a \\university of surf\\ and also another for the hamburger industry.
Seems we are missing a good potential somewhere.
Grey nurse sharks were protected especially to give tourist divers something worthwhile to look at, and to shut-up a handful of environmentalists with underwater camera’s who were conning the media into thinking only 500 sharks existed.
How anyone could possibly count all the sharks at every reef on the east coast never occurred to the media, they just ran with the fairy story while the Fisheries responded with a protective ban.
The bottom line is, it was probably a good thing to have the species protected.
Suggestion for an aspiring PhD student: Investigate the link between past onshore droughts and ‘vanishing sharks’ to determine if there is a connection why this species was scarce in the years before 1986. Include power head spears in the equation, plus professional fishing catches processed through markets.
Christine Danaher approaches a small grey nurse shark resting under a reef ledge. Located north of Forster, New South Wales, the area has been called Taurus Reef by local dive charter boats. When the flash went off the shark bolted.
Ron Taylor speared fish in the Capricorn and Bunker Group off the Queensland coast using Wally Muller’s Riversong as a mother ship. (Below) Ron Taylor and a Cook Island snapper at Tweed Heads in 1964
All the pages from Fathom magazine (1971-73) plus modern updates. http://fathomoz.com
Pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them – which is a bonus.
Kathy Troutt’s mates have started this site for her. http://kathytroutt.com
September 25, 2011 Kathy and John Harding announce their engagement.
Bob Grounds gets personal with a blue groper in the very early era of marine conservation.
During the 1970′s Cairns was put on the international map by big game fishermen. Before this the town was a sleepy fishing port and the only tourists were Australians who made the long trek north on a narrow sealed road we called The Crystal Highway (littered with broken car windscreens, one every 2 Km).
The story how black marlin were found as they spawned along the edge of the continental shelf is best told by the experts.
The changes to the town of Cairns between 1972 and 1982 were enormous. Free or very cheap vacant land given by the state government allowed international hotel’s and a resort at Port Douglas to be fast-tracked.
Today Cairns is the gateway to The Great Barrier Reef. Previously the major gateways had been further south.
In this collage are the boat skippers who went searching for big fish, Peter Bristow, Peter B Wright and Dennis ‘Brizakka’ Wallace.
Walter A. Starck, Vic Ley, Ron Taylor, Phil Eather,
Richard Weir, Wally Gibbins, Malcolm McLeod, Gai Girdlestone, John Harding.
The Late IRVIN ROCKMAN CBE
Springvale Cemetary (Melbourne, Victoria)
Jewish Memorial Garden 2
Row W
Grave 68
Wally Muller, Van Laman-Cropp, Ben Cropp, Kathy Troutt, Lynn Roberts, John Michael Harding Senior, Bob Grounds, Dean Cropp – (a future Legend), Ron Taylor, Trevor Collins (with marlin), Valerie May Taylor, Henri J. Bource, Wally Gibbins, John Sumner, Terry Morrison.