“Leaning over a stone breakwater near Manly’s ferry terminal, I looked down onto the shimmering, opaque surface of Sydney Harbour, and wondered what mysteries lay hidden underneath. I knew there was another world down there out of sight and mind to most terrestrials.

A desire to know what lies hidden beneath our normal superficial view of things has prevailed throughout my life. As a boy I was always the young scientist, day-dreaming about owning a laboratory, doing important experiments and making discoveries. But I never became a scientist. Instead I pursued a career in clinical dentistry, following in the footsteps of my father and his father before him.

I did, however, plunge into the mysterious depths of the ocean as a dedicated diver.”