John Rumney’s Eye to Eye Marine Encounters teams up with shark researcher Richard Fitzpatrick and a host of world-class marine scientists to offer the ultimate in adventure diving on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea.

With many years experience as a professional skipper, adventure diver and research co-ordinator, John Rumney can boast a vast knowledge of the reef and it’s critters. He was the founder and former manager of the Undersea Explorer Adventure Dive and Research Expeditions. Now, as executive director of Eye to Eye, he is taking adventure diving to a whole new level.

“We have enlisted the best marine biologists, researchers and conservationists to take scuba divers on eye-to-eye encounters with dwarf minke whales, sharks, manta rays and cephalopods,” he enthuses.

Eye to Eye offers three types of adventure reef opportunities:

  1. Custom-designed expeditions individually tailored to the interests, level of experience and time frames of the guests.
  2. Scheduled expeditions where divers and snorkellers can join scientists on research and educational trips of three, six or nine days duration. Two-day intensive tiger shark trips are also planned.
  3. Expert dive staff, researchers, chefs, marine biologist guides, skippers all available for private hire.

An example of expeditions offered is the 9 day shark research trip in 2008 where Richard Fitzpatrick will be the primary guest researcher.
During the trip we will be tagging and tracking sharks, including white tip reef sharks, grey reefs, silver tips, hammerheads and tiger sharks. This, combined with world class diving in the Coral Sea and the GBR will make this a very special experience. 

For each expedition, Eye to Eye will charter the best vessel for the job and then add its expert team of researchers and dive staff. “The best boat depends hugely on the research taking place, the number of passengers and other requirements that the guests might have”, John explains.

In founding the new company, Eye to Eye Marine Encounters, John draws on his many years of harnessing the tourism dollar to fund sustainable scientific research. However this time he aims to offer his guests the most intensely intimate encounters possible with the marine life.

“It’s important to know that these will also be informed encounters,” says John. “That is to say informed by the scientific knowledge imparted by our scientists, informed by the minimal impact strategies recommended by our conservationists; informed by the technical and safety expertise of our highly qualified staff; and informed by the highest level of integrity towards long-term sustainable tourism and marine protection.”

For more information, including itineraries, contact Eye to Eye Marine Encounters on 61 (0) 4098 5417 or email jlrumney@gmail.com  Web page under construction.