Aussie Diving Dec 5th to 12th 08

[bowlofpetunias]

I got stuck at work today but tomorrow .... Yipeee gonna go visit the pygmy pipehorses and angler fish gotta go charge batteries... maybe I'll take a spare camera just in case Whopeeeee!

So who else has been diving and what have you seen.... looking for a vicarious dive here

 

[Sas]

I am about to head out for some dives, just killing time before my lift now . WAY too early to be up, usually I book a later boat dive but they cancelled it so now I have to go on a ridiculously early one :depressed:

We are diving along Londsale Wall and then at Rye Pier to hopefully spot the wobbegongs and seals!

 

[bowlofpetunias]

:shocked2:Sas no sane person would be up at a time like that one their day off......:shocked2h... ya we are talking about divers here..... doesn't apply
Nick.... I tried to find you with the info I wrote down.... but must be a blonde thing.... no luck You'll have to find me now:blinking:

The angler was in the same sponge.... checking photos... I don't think he moved a fin since last weekend! We found another one too.... he is much brighter coloured

 

[thanksforallthefish]

What about the pygmy pipe horses???

 

[bowlofpetunias]

:blinking:We got to see the Pygmy Pipehorses too. I found the one near the Anglerfish 'cause :worship: Nick :worship: told us where to look.

My camera really struggles with stuff this small. I got some great in focus shots of the grit and rubble on the bottom and pipehorses out of focus. There are two different individuals from two different locations here. These are the best of a disappointing group of shots. I have left one uncropped to give an idea of how hard they are to see. Not a problem for eagle eye :worship: Nick :worship: Threw in a frogmouth for fun

 

[Sas]

Lovely pictures, as always petunia! The angler sounds pretty lazy

I am back from diving now. Bit tired and nearly fell asleep in the sun at our scuba club Christmas party we went to after our dives. Before 6am is way too early to get up! Got a whole bunch of pictures but chilled did not have the cable so I will have to wait a few days now. Saw a WOBBE! So although I saw heaps in Sydney it was mad to see one in Melbourne. Also saw some octopuses, giant stingray, a tiny stargazer, a bunch of seahorses and various other fish.

Viz was amazing at Lonsdale Wall, we had 20m+ there, :shocked2: however slack water didn't happen at all so it was basically a drift dive, so any pictures had to be taken with us holding on to a rock and hoping for the best. At one point chilled got sucked over the top of the wall and another point I got pushed down to 28m by the current (lucky there was a ledge at this point so I could stop myself, as it gets down to 60m there) so it got a bit hairy in places. The second dive was very relaxing, viz was not great due to tonnes and tonnes of some kind of baby shrimp in the water though. I also bought a new pair of fins and *love* them, got Jet Fins and finally I do not end up on my head Love getting new toys

 

[Aardvark]

I like that frogmouth pic! Thanks for sharing those. Sas, what sort of current are you drifting in? I'd be pretty uncomfortable drifting in anything that's going to change my depth too much for me

Got up at 6:00 this morning after getting in at 1:00 after Mrs Aardvark's work Christmas party. Fun time was have by all, even the designated driver (me). However, in the rush this morning, forgot to put fresh batteries in the camera for the boat dive this morning. Great dive, though. Best conditions we've had for months, clear blue water, 20m+ vis. about 19degrees.

As the haven was clear also went for a couple of dives after the boat dive, lots of one spot pullers and other assorted small fish - the shallow part of the breakwall is like an aquarium.

Bit of a ray fest today; numbray, small ray and BIG ray plus the usual friendly grouper and some jellies (that were being eaten by leatherjackets - cool to watch). Also saw some eels and cuttlefish in the Haven.



More photos from this afternoon here

 

[Sas]

Sas, what sort of current are you drifting in? I'd be pretty uncomfortable drifting in anything that's going to change my depth too much for me

Well we were supposed to be diving on slack water after a flood tide but we were dropped into a current that didn't stop or change direction for the duration of the dive (about 40mins). I am really not sure what happened. Possibly slackwater was early and we missed it completely (though according to the boat captain we were being dropped in right at the end of flood tide, but yea, no current change at all) or there just wasn't a slack water.

I would be fairly cautious doing a wall dive that drops off to 60m in a current again... due to the position of the wall you can have your depth changed a fair bit. It was not too bad (didn't have to fin much) but you had to be watchful. Most of the time I was being pushed into the wall actually so it was fairly easy to hang on if I needed to but still, was not an easy dive (just downloaded my dive profile and wow my SAC was high!). Most times we end the dive a fair bit after slackwater has ended so our ascents and safety stops are done drifting on an SMB but hmm not so great to do the whole dive that way!

Bit of a ray fest today; numbray, small ray and BIG ray plus the usual friendly grouper and some jellies (that were being eaten by leatherjackets - cool to watch). Also saw some eels and cuttlefish in the Haven.

Great pictures! Love the groper, they are awesome fish (though perhaps given the stores from petunias, I might get sick of their attention seeking after a while!) I notice on the page with further photos, there are groupers with big white stripes, what is with the stripes? Same type of fish or a different one? I saw a white stripy one at Camp Cove once.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

:blinking: Great shots Aardvark the viz looks awsome.

Sas that certainly sounds like a pretty hairy dive. Can't wait to see your shots.

Not sure what you are refering to Groupers with stripes. I know the younger ones and females often have a lighter broad vertical bar midbody.

:worship: Nick :worship: got me looking at Sea Tulips in a new way. I have noticed these things that look like eggs or little bugs before. Took a picture today. Does anyone know what they are? :worship: Nick :worship: do you know?

I also found this tiny Eastern Cleaner Clingfish on a Sea Tulip. It's colour pretty closely matched the Sea Tulip. I am wondering if these fish can change colour to match their background....

 

[thanksforallthefish]

Great pics Aardvark ... On sunday our dive was right at the end of the run out tide, was expecting viz tto be crap, but it was better than it has been for quite a while at 8-10m. Water temp was up ... my puter was showing between 20 & 21 ... I reckon its having a lend of me ... it was definitely warmer but 20 t0 21 come on ... I reckon 19 was more like it.

hmm ... Sas ... remind me NEVER to do drift dives in Melbourne.

Sounds like everyone had good dives this weekend ... hopefully they are omens of things to come ... :bounce4::bounce3::bounce2:


Thanks must go to Nick from SDA for the angler and Pygmy pipe horses ... they were the cream on what was already a good dive. Thanks Nick