Eagle Ray at the Poor Knights, New Zealand

A little SCUBA on the honeymoon at the Poor Knighs Islands in NZ. What's amazing about the PKI it is a complete mix of CA diving with South Pacific. The bottom is rocky reef and some kelp-like veg (visible in photos), but the fish are tropical. It's what you get when you mix the warm current from the Tasman coming over the North end of NZ on the North Island (PK Islands are at the Bay of Islands) and the colder polar water.

Unfortuantely there was high turbidity on this day (note some backscatter) because we were diving right after a big storm.

CP-5000, Ike housing, ISO 100, DS-50 and DS-125. Some retouching to improve the contrast on the ray's skin. In this photo I did what I could to ensure totally natural hues.

One shot of the islands themselves.

Great shots! love that ray!

Thanks for the shots and description.

I have always wondered what the diving was like around there. What was the visibility and what is it normally (not after a storm)?

Well keep in mind how varied NZ is from North to South. The BOI (Bay of Islands) feels like Hawaii/Fiji in their summer, and I believe that absent storms, water temps are aroudn 70 and vis is prob 50-100 I'm gonna guess. It's not as warm as people think. But it IS extremely interesting - it's such a mix of habitats.

There is also diving on South Island, but that's all dry suits. Basically NZ goes from Fiji like conditions in the extreme North to penguins near Christchurch, close to the South Pole.

Cousteau put the PK Islands on his list of Top 10 spots in the world. Also, the Rainbow Warrior wreck is near there.

One other thing of note is that the guides said that normally there are many, many rays there of several variety, but whales had been through eating them.