Left:  The view of a Lightship tower is almost completely obliterated by the amount of fish congregating around it.
August, 2002

Right:  A peek inside the Lightship will show a huge cod that has made its home there.
 August, 2002

Left:  The ghostly deck of a Lightship.  It seems to waiting expectantly.
August, 2002

Right:  A diver waits to ascend the ladder of a Lightship.  A look through the hole in the side will reveal the large cod living inside (see photo above).
August, 2002

Left and right:  The towers of both Lightships act as underwater beacons and attract large schools of fish who find refuge there.   
July, 2002
Photo by:  Keiko Fujii

Left:  The bow of a Lightship emerges from the gloom.   
July, 2002
Photo by:  Keiko Fujii

Right:  Take a look through the porthole and see what's living inside.
 July, 2002
Photo by :  Keiko Fujii

Left:  A group of happy divers at the boat ramp with Alan Cochrane after a dive of the Cochrane Artificial Reef.   
July, 2002
Photo by:  Keiko Fujii

Right:  A large puffer fish on the deck of a Lightship is wary of the divers.
July, 2002
Photo by:  Keiko Fujii

Left:  This large cod has made his home inside one of the Lightships.   
July, 2002
Photo by:  Keiko Fujii

Right:  A tower rests upside down of the sand beside the Lightship.
 July, 2002
Photo by :  Keiko Fujii

Left:  A diver emerges through the hatch of one of the lightships.   
July, 2002

Right:  A diver swims past one of the pipes in place on the Cochrane Artificial Reef.
July, 2002

Left:  A beaked coral fish, surrounded by many smaller fish, watches divers visiting the reef.   
April, 2002

Right:  Bundaberg diver Amanda Neilen enjoying a dive on the Cochrane Artificial Reef.
 April, 2002

Left:  A yellow-finned angelfish found near Ceratodus II.   
April, 2002

Right:  A pair of Beaked Coralfish near Ceratodus.  Note the fins and tails of a couple of Red Emperor in the top left corner.
April, 2002

Left:  Alan Cochrane with a school of large Slatey Bream near Ceratodus.
April, 2002

Right:  A large Tuskfish near Ceratodus.  Notice the chunk missing from in front of it's dorsal fin.  It also has some line coming from it's mouth - a lucky escape perhaps??
April, 2002

Left:  Cod find the Ceratodus is a safe haven.  There are many of these fish living on the Cochrane Artificial Reef
 April 2002

Right:  Diver Amanda Logan watches one of the large cod residing on the Ceratodus.
 April 2002

Left:  Two of the six known groper living on the Cochrane Artificial Reef.  One of these fish lives inside one of the aircraft and is known as "VW" because of his size. 

Right:  Japanese diver Yumiko Aikawa has a close encounter with some soft coral growing on one of the objects.

Left: One of the planes being loaded onto the truck.  Deployments such as this one cannot be achieved without the many hours put in by volunteers.
October 1996

Right:  Alan Cochrane and  fellow diver, Amanda Neilen enjoying a dive on the Cochrane Artificial Reef.  

Photos:  The two Mohawk aircraft (left) at the ramp ready to be 
towed into place for deployment, and (right) ready for descent 
into a new and very different hangar.
October 1996

Left:  Two divers carrying out a monitoring dive on the Kingair.  

Right:  A diver looks over the Kingair before commencing a monitoring dive.

Left:  A diver checks out one of the Lightships in place on the Cochrane Artificial Reef.

Right:  Two divers pause for a minute at the rails of one  of the lightships. 

Left: Alan Cochrane with one of the "Gavins" before placement on the Cochrane Artificial Reef site.
November 1992

Right: A load of "Gavins" being placed by members of the Bundaberg & District Artificial Reef Association.
November 1992

Photo left and right:  Two views of the "Gavins".  One taken during deployment, and the other on site at the Cochrane Artificial Reef, creating a safe haven for many species of fish.
November 1992

Left: A pile of concrete blocks, lined up like soldiers awaiting deployment.
November 1992

Right: Alan Cochrane loading concrete blocks at the boat ramp.
November 1992

Left: Volunteers moving the tractor and pontoon into place so blocks can be loaded.
November 1992

Right: Concrete blocks on the pontoon waiting to be towed into place on the Cochrane Artificial Reef site.
November 1992

Left: One of the tanks being loaded onto a truck before being taken by road to the boat ramp.
July 1998

Right: Notice the steel "Gaivns" welded to both the top of the large round tank and the square tank.
July 1998

 Photos:  The "Ceratodus" on her final journey down the 
Burnett River (left), and (right) the blast that sent her to 
her resting place, making her the first object to be placed on the 
Cochrane Artificial Reef.
October 1992

Left & Right: After all the hard work at the working bee, volunteers get together for a welcome bite to eat.  Brenda Cochrane is manning the barbeque.  Many volunteers enjoy the social aspect of belonging to an organisation such as BADARAI.
November 1992

Left:  Coral trout near "Ceratodus".  These beautiful fish are often seen checking out visiting divers.

  Right: Juvenile red emperor one of the steel triangles.  The juveniles of many species find these objects offer safety from predators.

Photos (left):  One of the many cod peeks out from under an 
object on the reef.  And (right) two divers looking out from the 
cockpit of the Mohawk aircraft.

Photos:  Feather stars (left) and sponges (right) are among the 
many and varied types of marine life found inhabiting the 
Cochrane Artificial Reef.

Left and right:  Many large cod are making their home in the safety 
of the Cochrane Artificial Reef.  Divers meet these inquisitive but 
cautious creatures on almost every dive.  They are often seen hanging just 
within vision range checking out their visitors.

 Left and right: The Breaksea Spit Lightships are towed into place and sent to join the "Ceratodus" on the Cochrane Artificial Reef.  BADARAI members spent many hours stripping and cleaning these vessels to ensure that they would be safe and habitable for their new tenants.
September 2000

Photos:  Slatey bream (left) and wobbegongs, otherwise known as carpet sharks (right) have moved in and made themselves at home.

Photos: Two of the smaller objects to be placed on the Cochrane Artificial Reef.  The round tank (left) has steel triangles welded to it to make it a much more attractive home to the fish living in this neighbourhood.
July 1998

Left:  A purpose-built pontoon is now used to deploy objects to the reef site.  Here, a 
load of concrete blocks is being taken out.  These blocks are particularly successful in attracting 
marine life and provide protection for a wide variety of species.

 Photo left:  A spanish dancer finds a partner near the reef site, and (right) hydroids grow like a garden of beautiful white underwater ferns.

Left: A coral trout checks out his new surroundings, and (right) some moses perch are well settled into their safe home.