Tuesday 27 December More scallops

The scallops we collected yesterday were so divine we're going back for more this morning but this time David will be going solo starting in the spot where he finished yesterday and I'm on safety surface cover mirroring his movements in the dinghy. The channel is busy with boat traffic so I protect him from boats coming close, follow where he goes and he can go where the scallops are without being concerned about having to find the dinghy. I've got the VHF radio. The dive flag is held high and David's orange surface marker bobs behind him.

so cute

I thought I'd get bored. No way. There was a fish feeding frenzy to watch with the gannets plunging into the water close to me. The noise and speed is impressive. I wondered if they could dive deep enough to peck David on the bum. My next visitor was a little blue penguin. One of my personal favourites, cute like puppies and usually as skittish as colts, especially if you shriek 'penguin'. This little guy was on a mission to reach the headland by swimming on the surface and nothing was going to stop him – not a yellow coated woman in a dinghy who kept coming closer and closer, nor the fast sight seeing ferry that sent him spinning in their wake. He was swimming away from my charge so I left him to go on his way unmolested.  Note for those who collect facts; The blue pengiun is also known as Little Blue Penguin and in Australia as the Fairy penguin.  It's the smallest penguin in the world.
Soon after David surfaced with his goodie bag full and I was there to pick him up. On the ride back into the bay I measured each shell and discarded any that were below the legal take limit. This way there'll be a harvest next year.