I spy, with my small eye

At over 2 metres, a smalleye stingray is not small at all. The biggest stingray in the world was spotted on Green Tree last week, when our divers were treated to an awesome fly-by at 30m. Accompanied by an entourage of 3 Cobia, the divers at first thought it was a Manta, but soon realised that they were witnessing something very special. And to make it even more amazing, the whole experience was captured on video by Rufus. The smalleye stingray was only recorded on film for the first time ever in 2009 and has only been seen alive off the coast of Inhambane, making this one of the most truly spectacular sightings we have ever caught on film here at Jeff's. Click here to see the footage.

If that wasn't enough, we dropped on Paindane Express on Sunday in a raging current, and after zipping along the reef for the first ten minutes of the dive, a gentle giant appeared out of the blue, just cruising along into the current. A 6-7 metre whale shark came right over the group, causing a few jaws to drop, lucky their regulators didn't fall out. Again, ace reporter Rufus was on the dive to capture the whole thing on video! Click here to see the footage.

It has been a ridiculously good week for diving here. The water has been crystal clear, visibility reaching up to 30m, no thermoclines to speak of and a consistent temperature of a balmy 27-28 degrees Celsius. We managed to swim with dolphins not once, not twice but three times. And the macro life is still in abundance, giving us plenty of photo opportunities of all the weird and wonderful creatures found on the local reefs. Frogfish, paperfish, squat shrimp, ghost shrimp and the tiniest coral crab any of us have ever seen. It also seems to be juvenile season, the spring of the ocean, as we are awash with juvenile angelfish, morays, sweetlips, clown triggers, batfish, and even dolphin calves breaching and splashing around for the cameras.

It's been a great week for regular visitors continuing their education too. Our old friend Tinus Coetsee did his Digital Underwater Photography course with Mike, his 5th specialty, which earns him the distinction of Master Scuba Diver - the black belt of recreational diving. Duncan and Jess were put through their paces on a highly entertaining Rescue Course. Sorry for the fake vomit Duncs, I'm sure you'll never be able to stomach muesli again!

After the wonderful experience with the smalleye stingray, there could be no other choice for this week's Fish of the Week...

Smalleye stingray (Dasyatis microps)
The smalleye stingray is the largest of all stingray species, measuring up to 2.2m. Very rarely encountered, but widely distributed, it is found in the Indo-Pacific, from Mozambique to Northern Australia, although has only ever been seen alive on the reefs of Inhambane province. It was first described in 1908, when a large specimen was collected from a depth of 31m. Previously thought to be bottom-dwelling, sightings of the ray on the shallow reefs of Tofo and Jangamo now suggest that it is semi-pelagic. Unlike other stingrays, the smalleye stingray swims by flapping it's pectoral fins up and down, akin to a manta ray or devil ray, giving the impression that it 'flies' through the water column. There is so little known about this species that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) determines it's conservation status as "Data Deficient".... And now we have it on video!!

That's it for another week, we hope you're still enjoying our weekly ramblings, wherever you are in the world. Any questions or queries, post a comment on here or email Mike at diving@jeffsmoz.com

Again, sorry for lack of photos in this format, please visit our facebook page to see more pics.... search for "Jeff's Pro Dive Centre" on facebook.