Scuba Zoo (Boomerang Reef)

Meet the site

Scuba Zoo is a piece of Coral Sea diving history. Marinelife.org.au describes it as a shark-feeding site at about 15 m on Boomerang Reef, near the Flinders Reefs, with four permanent cages on a sandy bottom and up to 30 or more sharks attending. During the 1980s and 1990s, Townsville-based liveaboards ran caged shark feeds here, with divers watching from inside the cages as reef sharks competed for bait.

The arrangement set it apart from the open-water feeds at Osprey's North Horn. The cages sat on sand, the bait was presented nearby, and the sharks, mainly grey reef and whitetip reef sharks and probably silvertips, were free to circle and feed around them. With 30 or more sharks at a time, it was one of the most intense shark encounters available in Australia.

Shark feeding in the Coral Sea Marine Park now requires specific Parks Australia authorisation.

Without a feed, the site is a shallow sand-and-reef dive at 15 m, with the usual Coral Sea reef fish, whitetips on the sand, and the remains of the cages as an unusual feature. Visibility in the area is often 30–40 m.

The entry is kept because the site is well known historically. Divers wanting a Coral Sea shark feed today should look to North Horn on Osprey Reef; anyone planning an expedition to Flinders should ask the operator whether Scuba Zoo is still dived.

What you might see

Grey reef and whitetip reef sharks (up to 30+ historically at feeds), possibly silvertips, reef fish, garden eels

Location

A sandy-bottomed site at about 15 m near the Flinders Reefs where four permanent shark-observation cages were installed; historically up to 30 or more sharks attended feeds.