Autumn Swell at Little Henty Reef

Morning sun lighting up clean new swell on Little Henty Reef.

The swell continued the next day. The two photos following were taken early in the morning at Skenes Creek.

While taking photos of waves on the reef at Skenes Creek, this sight to the south caught my eye. It’s Henty Reef, or Outer Henty Reef as the locals call it (3kms or so SE of Little Henty Reef at Marengo), with sizeable swell breaking on it. This is a reliable sign of big swell in the area. I wasted no time in driving around to my eyrie on Hayley Point to get some shots of the swell breaking on Little Henty Reef ( a couple of kms south of Apollo Bay, Victoria).

I was mesmerised (as always) by the spectacle of rising swell on Little Henty Reef. It was an experience separate from language, perhaps even above language. I hope the following images enable the viewer (as distinct from the reader) to share something of that experience.

Barrels on the low tide – the emerald eye

Wave breaking in shallow water over the reef

The wave’s crowning white mane of spray streaming back in the wind

The swell was building as I watched

A wave rising as a solid wall of water directly south of Hayley Point

A mesmerising spectacle

A cascading waterfall streamed over the lip of this breaking wave

These three photos were taken in rapid succession.

Big wave breaking, bigger wave following

These three photos were also taken in rapid succession.

Sooty oystercatcher leaning into a RH turn on the run

Silver gull on the shore reef