Dive 25: Portarlington Pier

By pfuller

Mar

29

Dive Number: 25 27/03/2010 13.11 Portarlington Pier

Wind: 15-20 knot Southerlies

Tide: 1.5hours past 0.87 high tide at Geelong

Conditions: The water column was full of sediments as i’ve come to expect at Portarlington Pier. Apparently caused by the mussell boats emptying their sump. Visibility wasn’t all that bad though, but it’s the biggest muck dive on the Bellarine Peninsula. No surge or current and flat surface conditions, the day was overcast with low ambient light making it dark under the peir and hard to achieve focus.

Bottom Type: Mud/sediment covered bottom easily stirred up, with pier pylons.

Visibilty: 4-5m

Water Temp: 22c

Bottom Time: 80 minutes

Max Depth: 4.3m (outside peir) Generally 2.5 m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: 8.5 litres/min

Details: I created another funnel snoot for my second strobe so thought i’d attempt some dual strobe snooting. This was a very difficult place to experiment, since any contact with the bottom clouded the surrounding water, and the critters weren’t very keen to have snoots stuck in their face. The biggest highlight (and shock) was seeing a massive Boarfish near the start of the breakwater. The first one i’ve seen on a shore dive, and not a place i would have expected to see one!

Camera Details: Canon 100mm macro, dual SS200 strobe with funnel snoots.

Dive Report: Swimming out there were large schools of whiting in the shallows. I was looking for some small macro subjects to try out some snoot photography, but everything i approached wasn’t very cooperative. Blennies, although very curious, just dont stay still long enough to position the strobes. So i had to remove the snoots to photograph this blenny, not a great shot, but it was a quiet day, and its all i got! Is thier one in the bottle?

I spent way to long following around this fish, but it just wouldn’t stop. I had to fire off this shot just to get an ID shot of it…i think its some type of gunnard. It half flies, have runns on the ground with little feet under its wings…strange cirtter!

There were a few Stinkfish around, but they kept diving down holes as i approached. I decided to call off the snoot photography and headed out the back of the pier, where i’ve never been before. There were about 200 11 armed starfish all stacked side by side, on a gentle slop into deeper water. It was kind of creepy, so i moved on pretty quickly and around the back of the breakwater. Out of the rock crevices came the first fish that was actually happy to see me..a Boarfish! WTF!!! At Portarlington??? I would never have believed it if i hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Its a fish i’d recently been trying to find a shore diving site to see it, but submitted to the fact that its a deeper water fish and i’d have to get to Pope’s eye (or perhaps Boarfish reef :) to photography one. Of course when you see such great unexpected monsters you always have a macro lens on, so i had to make do with a few head shots.

It was a very freindly fish and swam around me a number of times before dissappearing. Apparently this species is too friendly for its own good which makes it an easy target for spearfishers with no spirit of adventurer..probably the reason i’ve never seen one on a shore dive.

I also read that Boarfish are one of the only fish that feed on Brittlestars. I’m guessing this is how it came to evolve such a bizaar nose and mouth. Brittlestars are very common under the rocks around Portarlington, so i’m guessing they were probably very common around here and are just overfished. I assume they could use thier nose to get under rocks and pull out the brittle stars, and the lack of Boarfish in the area, is why the populations of brittle stars are so big.

Dive 24: St Leonards Pier

By pfuller

Mar

29

Dive Number: 24 25/03/2010 16.11 St Leonards Pier

Wind: 10-15 knot Northerlies

Tide: 1.5hours before 0.21 low tide at Geelong

Conditions: Slight chop on the surface on a relatively low tide. Visibilty wasn’t very good, but i was planning on macro so didn’t really mind.

Bottom Type: Sandy bottom, with pier pylons.

Visibilty: 4m

Water Temp: 22c

Bottom Time: 103 minutes

Max Depth: 3.3m

Air usage: 105bar/1500psi

SAC: 9.3 litres/min

Details: This was mainly a dive to try out a funnel as a snoot on my SS200 and see how hard it was to work with. It really chewed up the light, but aiming wasn’t as difficult as i would have thought.

Camera Details: Canon 100mm macro, single SS200 strobe with funnel snoot

Dive Report: This was a dive to enter the wonderful world of snoot photography. Its time consuming, frustrating, and kind of annoying, but i can see that it will be worth the practice. I got a few snoot shots in on this dive, but nothing that blew my socks off. I can see the possibilities though.

My first subject was an anemone..a sucker that can swim away from me. I didn’t experiment with different angles, and was just happy to get the light on the subject initially. Maybe some sidelighting skimmed across the face of the anemone would work nicely next time.

Finding it not overly difficult to get the aiming right, i quickly moved on to fish. I spotted a lizardfish which are usually stay pretty still. The snoot really made his eye pop, and gave some nice reflections.

Sand Gobies are everwhere at St Leonards and also make good close up subjects:

The snoot was taking up a lot of battery power, so i took it off and took some general snaps of smaller fish.

A Toothbrush Leather jacket:

A fish thats really common at Cottage, but i’ve never notcied it at St Leonards..a Bullseye:

Some Hulafish:

Dive 23: Cottage by the Sea

By pfuller

Mar

29

Dive Number: 23 25/03/2010 12.29 Cottage by the Sea

Wind: 10-15 knot Northerlies

Tide: 15minutes before 0.24 low tide at the heads

Conditions: Vis was bad with very milky conditions. A bit of surge around too and some current. Generally fairly aweful conditions for photography.

Bottom Type: Sandy bottom, with large reef overhangs and ledges.

Visibilty: 2-4m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 124 minutes

Max Depth: 7.8m

Air usage: 200bar/2800psi

SAC: 11.5 litres/min

Details: Very dissappointed with the conditions and i was expecting better based on the weather. The critters that turned up though made up for the bad vis. Two Cuttles, Two Seadragons, Two Blue Devils, a Port Jackson Shark, a rosy wrasse, a Trevalley, a large strange cod thing i’m yet to identify(maybe a Beardie???) and some very colourful and curious leatherjackets.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, DUAL SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: This was a very milky dive, and it really tested out my dual strobe technique. Instead of making it more versitile, it made things a hell of a lot more complicated, and i missed some killer opportunities because i had my strobes wrongly positioned. With a single strobe you can have the strobe up high at 12 oclock, and despite uninteresting flat lighting, you can still light your subject and get a decent shot. With dual strobes though, theres a precision in positioning thats very dependent on the distance from camera to subject, and when you have a subject that moves from 1 metre to basically right in front of the dome in a matter of seconds, its almost impossible to get correct light coverage at all distances. Especially when the vis is bad, you have a wide angled lens on, and fish insist on kissing thier own reflection in the dome port. So after an amazingly close encounter with this Leatherjacket (that usually keep there distance), i was disappointed not to nail a shot of these nicely coloured Leatherjackets. Initially it kept its distance in the confines of the rock ledges.

But once it spotted its own reflection, i think it either couldn’t resist its own image, or maybe thought someone was moving in to its territory.

He really couldn’t have got any closer than this…

But of course had a crack at eyeballing the dome as close as possible.

This Leatherjacket eventually had enough of me, and took off. I continued under the ledges and thought to myself, “gee i’d love to see a Port Jackson Shark”…literally seconds after the thought entered my head, i spotted a large shark sitting deep under the ledges… A Port Jacko! My first..i was excited! ; ) He was tucked under only about a 60-80cm ledge making it extremely difficult with a tank to get in close enough for a descent photo. I knew from what i’d read that these sharks weren’t aggressive (and i’m not sure if they even have carnivorus teeth), but to get a descent photo i’d be blocking off his exits if he got freaked out, so it wasn’t the most comfortable if situations. Lucky for me when he was getting a bit unnerved by my presence, he just swung himself around and went deeper into the cave. Such a beatiful creature though, i’m looking forward to seeing more.

I continued on, and spotted a single Trevally darting around.

More colourful Leatherjackets turned up, this time a Horseshoe LeatherJacket:

Under the same ledge was a Rosy Wrasse..a new fish for me on a shore dive.

I came across another fish i’d never seen…i think it might be a Beardie:

A gorgonian-scape:

A Goatfish fossicked in the sand outside the ledges:

My air was getting low, and a Weedy Seadragon showed up, so i thought i’d have a quick go at it, but i didn’t have long to mess a round.

A second Seadragon appeared, and they were momentarily in the frame together…not a great pic, but unique to have two together.

Dive 22: Pilots Peir, Queenscliffe

By pfuller

Mar

29

Dive Number: 22 25/03/2010 11.17 Pilots Peir

Wind: 10-15 knot Northerlies

Tide: 1.5 hour before 0.24 low tide at the heads

Conditions: Strong current running from north to south. The water column was full of sand making visibilty atrocious.

Bottom Type: Sandy bottom, with scattered reef..

Visibilty: 2m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 21 minutes

Max Depth: 3.0m

Air usage: 30bar/400psi

SAC: 13.4 litres/min

Details: I’ve never had a lot of success at Pilots Pier, with strong currents always running. This was no exception. I decided to head out to the bouy to the right of the pier and drift towards the bouy to the right. I followed the drift to the shallow rock shelf off shortlands bluff but the sand in the water just made this dive not worthwhile.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: There were a few scattered bommies with a school of about 20 zebra fish around, and the usual wrasse. It was generally shallow, crap vis, little life and a bit dangerous from boat traffic and strong currents. I dont think i’ll be shore diving this area again. Maybe a boat dive on slack at some of the known reefs near shortlands reef is the way to go.

Dive 21 – Ozone Wreck

By pfuller

Mar

23

Dive Number: 21 21/03/2010 16.00 Ozone Wreck

Wind: 20-30 knot southerlies

Tide: 2.5 hour before 1.00 high tide at Geelong

Conditions: Strong southerlies blowing all day with a hint of westerlies kicking in to. Wind was a 20knot southerly in the evening, making Portarlington the only reasonable choice, however i checked out St Leonards Pier on the way, and there was too much sidewards water movement from south to north, so ended up at the Ozone wreck which is protected slightly from southerlies by a nearby point.

Bottom Type: Sandy bottom, with scattered metal and wooden wreck artifacts.

Visibilty: 5m

Water Temp: 21c

Bottom Time: 86 minutes

Max Depth: 3.6m

Air usage: 100bar/1400psi

SAC: 10.4 litres/min

Details: This was my first dive at the Ozone wreck, and conditions weren’t ideal, so i was sure what to expect. I’d only snorkelled here maybe 2-3 times in the past, and the waters had always been mucky and i wasn’t overly impressed with what i’d seen freediving. To my suprise when i entered, the water was fairly clean. There were a couple of spearo kids out, but it was generally a pretty quiet, cold and windy evening.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, DUAL SS200 strobe. I’d recently come across a cheap SS200 strobe, but hadn’t yet got a second strobe arm. I thought i’d bring it on this dive and hand hold it, so i rigged up a quick method of attaching the strobe to my harness to carry around with me.

Dive Report: On decent i was immediately impressed by the size and scope of the Ozone wreck. The structure of the paddle steamer wheel lets a lot of light penetrate it.

Beneath the wheel is a couple of old boiler tanks. A few fish hung out here, and a small ray.

Out to the north lies another wreck, The Dominion. It consists of a series of wodden uprights that formed the hull of the boat.

A small collapsed room-like structured area had some amazing light filtering through it, so i tried some high ISO long exposure shots, but i didn’t really pull it off.

Overall i really enjoyed my first ever wreck dive!

Dive 20 – St Leonards Peir

By pfuller

Mar

23

Dive Number: 20 20/03/2010 13.46 St Leonards Pier

Wind: 10-15 knot westerlies

Tide: 0.5 hour after 0.18 low tide at Geelong

Conditions: Gentle westerly winds made conditions absolutly perfect at St Leonards. Barely a ripple on the surface. Visibility was incredibly good, which i really wasn’t expecting on low tide. There were a HEAP of divers at St leonards taking advantage of the conditions.

Bottom Type: Sand bottom with pylon growth and rock breakwater blocking easterlies.

Visibilty: 10+m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 68 minutes

Max Depth: 3.5m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: 9.3 litres/min

Details: After a bit of exploring over at Pt Lonsdale earlier in the day, i had very little air left. I wasn’t expecting the vis at St Leonards to be so good, else i would have filled the tank. One thing i was happy of, was i decided to keep the fisheye on instead of changing to Macro which i usually do at St Leonards.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: Swimming out beneath the pier, i had to dodge other divers who were everywhere. I got to the first arm, and spotted a Stargazer from the surface who didn’t seem to be appreciating all the new guests, and was swimming along the bottom looking for a place to settle. I watched him settle and got down there to photograph him. My first one at St Leonards!

I took my strobe off the housing and tried to get some more moody lighting as he sunk deeper into the sand.

Watch out little goby!

Another photographer with a DSLR rig was nearby, so i pointed it out to her, and she got a few snaps with her macro lens. My motives weren’t totally altrusistic, i wanted to get some “stargazing” shots, which she was happy to pose for.

He didn’t appreciate all the attention, and decided he’d find a new patch.

Once found, it was time to nestle into the sand:

I’d spent enough time with this stargazer and was quickly running out of air, so i kept moving along. The good vis, made for some interesting reflections of the pier against the surface.

Around the kelp and rocks beneath swam heaps of small leatherjackets:

Many of them approaching the camera for a closer look.

Something i only recently realised were that Goatfish actually turn red when they are sitting still and trying to blend into thier surrounds. This Goatfish was just about to take off so the red isn’t showing here:

Unfortunately i was out of air, so i wasn’t able to make good use of the excellent vis. Its always good to see St Leonards in good vis conditions though…makes it a marvelous dive!

Dive 19: The Narrows, Point Lonsdale

By pfuller

Mar

23

Dive Number: 19 20/03/2010 10.59 The Narrows

Wind: 10-15 knot westerllies

Tide: 1.5 hour after 0.53 low tide at the heads

Conditions: BOM said it was meant to be 10-15 knot westerlies, but i think it was swinging around to the south more than expected. Not much surface chop, but small shore breaks, forming to large swell and shore breaks at the end of the dive. This site had a lot of current and surge moving through it, and i should have dived it on ebb.

Bottom Type: Rocky reef with overhangs.

Visibilty: 3m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 77 minutes

Max Depth: 5.9m

Air usage: 125bar/1800psi

SAC: 13.2 litres/min

Details: Rocky reef typical of Cottage by the Sea (which everyone raves about), runs from Shortland Bluff at Queenscliffe, to the point at Point Lonsdale. I’d been to Cottage and The Springs, but i was interested to find out what the reef was like in between these two places. I stopped at a carpark on the road to Queenscliffe, geared up and headed up the track and to the right (south) down along the ocean boardwalk. There was a small wooden staircase leading down to the beach where i headed straight out. I covered about a 500m area southwards down to the second wooden staircase. I found some nice overhangs and ledges that seemed more intact that cottage, which has deep ledges and overhangs. The reef here had more columns of rocks holding up the ledges, forming a lot more structure for smaller fish to use, and deep crevices back into the rock structure for the larger fish.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: The surge was nearly unbearable here, but i eventually came across a nice little overhang section that was sheltered form the surge. A couple of these white ascidian/seq squirt things lined the top edge of the wall.

I small smooth ray hung out here also sheltering from the surge. A couple of big Abs looked like they’d had a fairly undisturbed life on a peice of timber embedded in the sand.

There was also a fairly old bottle in the same area, but it had no markings and not much character in design, so i left it where it was. The rim was unevenly formed, so by that i gathered it was fairly old.

Around the back of this legde was another wall of the same bommie, which much more interesting structure. It had pillars that smaller fish made home, and protected larger fish that stayed deeper under the ledge (such as scalyfin, wrasse and leatherjacket). A Blue Devil also made an appearance here, also staying just aout of reach to make a good photo with my fisheye lens.

I continued south along the reef and found a couple more overhangs and some strange loose boulders away from any descent structure they could have fallen off. There were also some nice seagrass beds, where a descent school of old wives hovered above.

On my way in, the swell was really starting to form and the shore breaks were getting fierce, needing a quick exit. I’ll do this dive again on ebb and it should be more productive.

Dive 18 – Cottage by the Sea

By pfuller

Mar

17

Dive Number: 18 16/03/2010 18.52 Cottage by the Sea

Wind: 10-15 knot Southerlies

Tide: 1.5 hour before 0.53 low tide at the heads

Conditions: I think it was blowing light northerlies all day, but it swung around the southerlies in the evening. The surface was choppy and swell was forming at the start of the exposed reef at cottage beach. Water was very milky, and lots of surge.

Bottom Type: Rocky reef with overhangs.

Visibilty: 3-4m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 45 minutes

Max Depth: 7.6m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: 11.1 litres/min

Details: I was considering calling off this dive as the conditions were far from perfect. I ended up heading out and the water was very dirty. I kept it short and didn’t get much photography in. A couple of Blue Devils showed, and a group of divers, one of whom pointed out a weedy seadragon to me. But conditions made it to difficult to photograph.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: Not much to tell or show on this dive. A couple of Blue Devils under the ledges, one with a large six-spined leather jacket. These Blue Devils just aren’t as friendly as i’d like.

A dive club also braved the conditions, and one guy wanted me to take his photo. At least i think thats what he was indicating. If he didn’t he sure turned on the moves when i pointed the camera at him.

Since the fish weren’t being cooperative, the brown algae was my only subject as it had no where to go but sway in the current.

Dive 17 – Cottage by the Sea

By pfuller

Mar

16

Dive Number: 17 15/03/2010 18.26 Cottage by the Sea

Wind: 10 knot Northerlies

Tide: 20minutes before 0.55 low tide at the heads

Conditions: Lovely 30c evening.. light norterlies with nice flat seas.

Bottom Type: Rocky reef with overhangs.

Visibilty: 4-5m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 69 minutes

Max Depth: 7.8m

Air usage: 105bar/1500psi

SAC: 10.9 litres/min

Details: Sometimes you just think “Its great to be alive!”. Its something i wasn’t thinking during my mondayistis day at work, and even though i planned to dive after work, i really wasn’t feeling like it. It was such a great evening though so i had a quick rest after work and straight down to Cottage. The Sun was low and moved behind clouds on the way down, and i was concerned that the light wasn’t going to be good. On arrival though, the conditions looked great so i got straight down to cottage and descended before it got dark. The lighting was amazing down there…the low sunlight created gentle hues and glimmering sunbursts on the surface. This was going to be a great night for photography!

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: I started out metering the sun coming through the surface and the hoped i could find some good subjects to pose in front of it. I started out with the kelp.

I hoped a large school of fish might come through, but i had to make do with this single zebrafish.

Then my main subject arrived. A massive Giant Cuttlefish appeared from beneath the ledge… a very inquistive fella. I’m not sure if this was an attempt at a smile or if it wanted to eat me when we first met!

Either way he was happy to come out and play.

I think he liked his reflection in the dome port and want to get views from every angle…so did i actually.

When he came out over the pale sand, he’d morph into a whitish/cream colouration…very impressive.

But when back into his lair, he’d change into his purple garb.

Waves to the viewers at home Mr Cuttle!

He really did have some stunning markings…

I spent quiet while with this cuttle when a boat pulled up directly above me. I feared it might drop anchor so i got out of there.. it was time to say goodbye to Mr Cuttle.

Not long after I left, i head up to the top of the reef, only to be greeted by Cuttle Jnr. About 1/4 size of Mr Cuttle, but just as inquisitive.

It came right up to me, another narcissist cuttle.

This pose reminds me of Ganesh, the Indian Elephant God.

I was very happy to come across these two cuttlefish and had a great photography session..short but action packed. The sun had set, so i thought i’d call it a night. I ascended nice and gradually, relaxed and in total control of my ascent rate….probably my best ascent to date. When i hit the surface…wow..an amazing sunset sky awaited. Burnoffs in the Otways had created an incredible smoke cloud formation in the west, and the sky was painted with reds, oranges and subtle greys, all reflected off the gentle waters i was floating in. An amazing end to an amazing dive. Diving rocks!

Dive 16: Cottage by the Sea

By pfuller

Mar

16

Dive Number: 15 14/03/2010 15.39 Cottage by the Sea

Wind: 10 knot Easterlies (mean to be northerlies)

Tide: .5 hour before 0.53 low tide at the heads

Conditions: Nice day. and surface was noce and flat at cottage

Bottom Type: Rocky reef with overhangs.

Visibilty: 4-5m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 96 minutes

Max Depth: 7.9m

Air usage: 140bar/2000psi

SAC: 10.4 litres/min

Details: It was just one of those days where things dont go right. I got to cottage after putting my hotshoe adaptor back on the hotshoe, which caused the strobe not to work on my dive at The Springs. I started swimming out and it took a bit of effort to get out to the reef..a bit exhausting. I did my pre-descent check and tried the strobe out..no flash again!!! I figured out that when i’m pushing in the camera, the hotshoe adaptor is being pushed off the hotshoe for some reason. *sigh* So i swam back in, and couln’t be bothered walking back up to the car. I rolled up the wetsuit sleeevs, tried to de-drip as much as possible, and disassembled the housing on the beach. With the fisheye on, i have to take up the dome port first, so i was open to dripping in the whole rig. Which is exactly what i did..but didn’t think it would create much of a problem. Eventually got the rig back together and headed out again. Take 2. Swam out…puffed..rested..desecended..then lay on a sandy section approaching some sand bathing wrasse. Looked through the viewfinder to compose a shot, and it was all hazy. I flipped over the rig to see that the dome port had condensation covering all the inside of the dome port. I decided to forget about the camera and just enjoy the dive.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: After all the camera hassles i thought i’d explore the reef. I headed over the back of the usual overhang section and found some amazing little sections…scatter boulders and areas where the fish seemed almost oblivious to the exsistence of humans. I had leatherjackets coming up to my mask and observing a new creature in their home patch. After about 45 minutes of exploring, the condensation on the dome had disappated, and i started to take a few snaps.

I found a nice little ledge with gorgonians and a family of rougies living under it. They were very protective of the ledge and chased away anything that passged through their area.

Above the ledges, Victorian Scalyfin darted around the kelp.

Higher up in the water column, Dusky Morwong patrolled the area. Resting occassionally in the kelp.

A small school of moonlighters pass under a legde.

Dive 15: The Springs, Pt Lonsdale

By pfuller

Mar

16

Dive Number: 15 14/03/2010 14.01 The Springs, Pt Lonsdale

Wind: 10 knot Easterlies (mean to be northerlies)

Tide: 2 hours before 0.53 low tide at the heads

Conditions: Nice day but easterlies were chopping up the surface a bit.

Bottom Type: Low reef with some overhangs.

Visibilty: 3-4m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 32 minutes

Max Depth: 4.4m

Air usage: 60bar/800psi

SAC: 13.6 litres/min

Details: I thought i’d give the Springs a look before heading to Cottage. Very dirty and surgey, but interesting. There were some Silver Drummer swimming around over the seagrass. The Springs seems to be one of the most diverse sites for fish, and i haven’t seen these anywhere else. I headed out deeper and found some little caverns and overhangs. I took a couple of shots and something didn’t seem right…no strobe flash! I checked a few setting, checked a few connnections, and then realised that the hotshoe adaptor wasn’t on the hotshoe properly…damn! So i thought i’d try a few ambient light shots, and then head over to cottage, fixing the setup before diving of course.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: Photography was limited due to my strobe not being connected properly. I should have looked at it as an opportunity for ambient light shots instead of bailing on the dive, but i was keen to keep the air for cottage.

I did get some shots of a cool cavern i found, that had an opening that streamed light through it, that was obscured by kelp every time the surge moved back and forth, spewing the kelp fronds in and out of the opening, creating some amazing lighting affects.

Snorkel at Pt Lonsdale

By pfuller

Mar

14

13-03-2010 17.06 Point Lonsdale – 1hr past 0.53 low tide

Another very quiet day at the rockpools despite seeing Doto Pita as soon as i dived in.

The only other nudi was the ever present Phyllodesmuim macphersonae.

Tasmanian Blennies are suprisingly uncommon here.

Always plenty of Cleaner Shrimp around though:

Dive 14 – The Pipelines, St Leonards

By pfuller

Mar

13

Dive Number 14: 13/03/2010 14.12 The Pipelines, St Leonards

Wind: 10 knot Northerlies

Tide: 1 hour past 0.75 high tide at geelong

Conditions: Great day…25c, calm winds however some small chop on the surface caused by shallow bottom. A bit surgey due to shallow depth made macro focus difficult.

Bottom Type: Three 2 metres in diameter pipes running out over sandy bottom.

Visibilty: 4-5m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 94 minutes

Max Depth: 3.9m

Air usage: 120bar/1700psi

SAC: 11.9 litres/min

Details: This is a site i’d checked out on snorkel before. It’s the water source for a nearby aquaculture centre which consists of three pipelines running out about 500mm towards Governor Reef. The pipelines are covered by sand in the shallows, and then are exposed about 200 metres from shore. The pipes are covered in some nice algea, with some plants i haven’t seen elsewhere. Every 50metres or so are joiner boxes, that seem to attract ecklonia growth. Underneath the pipes, some sponge growth occurs and provides shelters for fish and rays. The pipelines end in about 3.5-4 metres of water with large extraction units and is marked by a yellow bouy (just to the right of the sailboat pictured) you can see from shore. Governors reef is presumably further out, but i’m yet to see any signs of it. Be careful of boats in this area and a dive bouy is probably a good idea. Jet ski’ers use this area too.

Camera Details: Canon 100mm macro, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: My main visit to this site was to look for nudi’s and generally check out the area on scuba. Even though it was only an hour after high tide, it was still fairly shallow and a higher tide (around .90) would be beneficial. The usual suspects on the way out..small moonlighters, wrasse, lots of small leatherjackets, and small rays under nearly every junction of the pipeline. Generally its small flighty fish in this area, nothing big and nothing particularly curious. Even this Pygmy Leatherjackets was a little bit wary.

A bright red anemone stood out on the green algea that was swaying in the surge..an unusual host selection.

Once i reached the extraction units, i wasn’t suprised to see another globefish corpse embeded in the extraction units mesh. Last time i snorkelled here, a globefish was gasping for its life after being sucked into the units…spikes wedges into the mesh.

The first nudi’s i came across were out past the end of the pipelines, on my search for governors reef. Philinopsis taronga journeyed over the sand.

As usual Philinopsis cyanea was not far away. I swear they are the same speices!

An opened shell near a purple anemone made a nice photo:

I cant seem to resist taking photos of sand gobies when i have the macro lens on.

Another purple anemone.

On the way in i scoured the weed on top of the pipelines of nudi’s. I saw a couple of oxynoe viridis and a small pink Noumea haliclona, but conditions made focus too difficult. There were also two Ceratasoma brevicaudatums which made life a bit easier for me.

A pretty good dive that ‘ll do again on a full tank and search for Governors Reef. I’m suprised its not dived, but i guess with the peir to the south and the ozone to the north it gets overlooked.

Dive 13 – St Leonards Peir

By pfuller

Mar

12

Dive Number: 13 12/03/2010 16.24 St Leonards Pier

Wind: 10 knot Southerlies

Tide: 0.27 low tide at geelong

Conditions: Beautiful evening…clear skies..25c, and smooth bay, however right on low tide so sand bars exposed.

Bottom Type: Peir pylons with scattered debris on Sand bottom.

Visibilty: 3-4m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 77 minutes

Max Depth: 3.1m

Air usage: 80bar/1200psi

SAC: 9.8 litres/min

Details: Right on low tide which made it very shallow and very mucky. Some current flowing south to north as tide started to come in. Sun started setting making visibility difficult.

Camera Details: Canon 100mm macro, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: Being so shallow i walked about half the pier and snorkelled before decending. I came across a dead Mauri Octopus which the letherjackets were going nuts for. They liked nibbling on the end of the tenticles, and once one leatherjacket had the tenticle up in the air, it was a battle for position to secure the end.

Larger Horseshoe Leatherjackets joined in the action, as welll as an occassional violent grab by some wrasse.

I stayed at this octopus for about 20 minutes, photographying what came to chew on it. At one stage i felt a presence behind me, and i thought another diver was passing by. I continued photographying, but the urge to look around was too strong. So i turned slightly to see a MASSIVE Smooth Ray almost on top of me. My movement spooked it a little bit and it turned around, putting its stinger right in my face. I stayed as still as possible so it didn’t thrust its tail in defence. As soon as it was out of strike range i moved cowardly to behind a pylon…i freakin hate rays!!! They scare the crap out of me more than anything else in the sea! Anyway, the octopus was too desirable to the ray, soit quickly turned back towards it and proceeded to demolish the octopus. It was a seriously big octopus too…the ray hovered over the top of it, and flapped its wings as it devoured the octopus, sending a cloud of sand into the surrounding area, and making the leatherjackets join me on the other side of the pylon. Unfortunately you see these things when you have a macro lens, so no photos, but a hell of an adrenaline rush!

I searched for nudi’s for the rest of the dive with no success. A small goby blended in well to the sponges on the pylons.

Seastars do their best not to blend in,

A lizardfish kicked back on the sand.

As did a small flounder. Man they are a strange design…its like they you to be vertical, and turned horizontal, but their face didn’t follow.

A tiny Pygmy leatherjacket cruised amongst the weed.

Dive 12: Clifton Springs Pylons

By pfuller

Mar

8

Dive Number: 12 07/03/2010 14.28 Clifton Springs Pylons

Wind: 20 knot Easterlies

Tide: 1 hours before a 0.11 low tide at geelong

Conditions: Small rolling .20m unbreaking waves over shallow sandy bottom

Bottom Type: Wood pylons on Sand bottom.

Visibilty: 2m

Water Temp: 22c

Bottom Time: 37 minutes

Max Depth: 1.5m

Air usage: 35bar/500psi

SAC: 9.8 litres/min

Details: Since i called off my dive early yesterday, i decided just to use the small amount of air i had left in the tank, somewhere close and shallow. It was blowing strong easterlies chopping up probably everywhere except clifton springs and maybe portarlington. So despite it being a massively low tide, and approaching peak low, i decided to just crawl along the bottom in 1.5m and hope to spot some seahorses or pipefish. Is it still called a dive when you can stand up and your heads .5m out of the water???

Camera Details: Canon 100mm macro, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: Not much to show, since there wasn’t much around and visibilty was crap. Being so shallow made focus lock tricky with the surge.

Even this sand goby (that usually kicks around on the sand) was hiding under a shell:

Hardyheads where sheltering behind the pylons:

But this sand anemone was loving it! Cant you see the smile on its face?

Dive 11: Cottage by the Sea

By pfuller

Mar

7

Dive Number: 11 06/03/2010 12.14 Cottage by the Sea, Queenscliffe

Wind: 15knot westerlies turning to southerlies. Storm building towards end of dive with strong gusts.

Tide: 2 hours past 0.09 low tide at heads

Conditions: A bit of surface chop, but little swell. Steady current running. Storm started building towards end of dive with current running fast and shore swell building causing me to end dive early.

Bottom Type: Reef and Rock legdes over sand.

Visibilty: 6-8m clouding to 2-3m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 99 minutes

Max Depth: 7m

Air usage: 140bar/2000psi

SAC: 10.1 litres/min

Details: I checked out the reef near the Pilots Pier, but the current was running to fast, so i decided to head to Cottage again. It was far from perfect conditions with the wind starting to move around to the south. I also forgot one of my booties, so i had to go barefoot…freaked me out everytime i felt weed on my feet! I checked out the eastern section of the reef again at cottage. Theres a nice little amphitheatre area with deep rock legdes. Towards the end of the dive i came across a section where the fish where going nuts as the storm approached and started stiring up the water. I saw my first Rainbowfish on this dive.

Camera Details: Canon 10-17mm fisheye, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: There wasn’t much distance travelled on this dive. After swimming over the back of the reef, i was out a fair way offshore before descending into a little amphitheatre. I had another go at some gorgonian fans with a magpie perch performing acrobatics around them.

A close up of some gorgonians fans:

A couple of large moonlighters hung around under a ledge, but only one was friendly enough for photos:

Old wives were everywhere on this dive, and its hard not to photograph them as they often approach so close.

Here’s a couple just floating under a overhang:

I have way to many old wives photos and i’m still not totally happy with any of them, so i thought i’d play around with black and white to see how that would work.

Old wives are a very reflective fish and if you dont just lightly touch them with strobe they tend to overexpose. Its usually an annoying quality, but i thought it added a nice effect to this photo as one swum through a ring of weed.

I finally got a decent exposure of a group of old wives..pity the background lacks a bit of interest.

Theres a group of fish that don’t seem to like staying under rock legdes and on the seabed. This is the leatherjacket family who prefer the open water at the top of the reef. The two most common were the Blue-lined Leather Jacket and Yellow-striped Leatherjacket.

Heres a closer shot of the Yellow-striped Leatherjacket:

And another of the Blue-lined Leatherjacket:

Towards the end of the dive the conditions started to turn really nasty but it sent the fishlife crazy. I swum into a area where the activity was frenetic. Pictured here are about 20 old wives, but there were more like 50 in the area, with dusky morwongs and sweep swimming amongst them.

A dusky morwong swoops through the school:

Amongst all the action i spotted a lone fish i’d never seen before, with stunning markings. A rainbowfish which are suppose to live beneath the weed and rarely venture out. This one didn’t stay still for long and was tough to photograph, but i was happy to get a shot for the record.

After snapping off a couple of shots of the rainbowfish, i high tailed it towards shore as the current was getting dangerously strong and the visibilty was aweful. I’ll probably never dive cottage that late in the flood again, but it was good to see what its like.

Dive 10 – Cottage by the Sea

By pfuller

Mar

6

Dive Number: 10 05/03/2010 9.38 Cottage by the Sea, Queenscliffe

Wind: 10-15knot northerlies

Tide: 0.09 low tide at heads

Conditions: Nice flat conditions, a bit overcast but clearing sunny patches.

Bottom Type: Reef and Rock legdes over sand.

Visibilty: 5-8m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 126 minutes

Max Depth: 7m

Air usage: 165bar/2500psi

SAC: 9.3 litres/min

Details: I thought i’d check out the westerly section again now i had the 17-40mm on for a bit of extra reach for shy fish. There were a few blue devils around, including two together(maybe an adult and a juvenile), together with a few shy roughies deep under a legde and two weedy seadragons. Overall i wasn’t happy with the 17-40mm…i just wasn’t getting sharp images. I’m not sure if this is an issue with the body on the dome i’m using on.

Camera Details: Canon 17-40mm fisheye, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: More beautiful Blue devils on this dive, this time a pair together. One having more pronounced purple spots than any of the other fish i’ve seen before.

Bulleyes galore under every rock legde at cottage:

A Yellow-striped Leatherjacket seemed a bit out of place under the rock legdes with the Bullseyes.

A magpie perch was doing a bit of sand bathing out in the seagrass beds.

Some standard Old wives shots:

A Senator Wrasse and Victorian Scalyfin both playing in the sunlit seagrass beds. It looked really lush today..better than most victorian lawns : )

A younger, more colourful Scalyfin sticking to the edges of the rocklegde:

This wrasse was close by nestling into the seagrass and looking pretty happy doing it:

I saw two Weedy Seadragons on this dive..always great to see..but just couldn’t nail the focus with the 17-40mm despite a very cooperative seadragon.

I love the green beaded vegetation in this shot.

Snorkel at Point Lonsdale

By pfuller

Mar

4

03-03-2010 Point Lonsdale – 1.5hr before 0.34 low tide

A quick snorkel at dusk tonight produced only one nudi. I’m hoping that blogging some of this information might lead to a trend i can work out when there’s a high number of nudi’s around. Anyway, i turned my focus to fish, since there’s always plenty around at dusk. Especially these zebrafish…too big for a macro lens really.

Also a number of these smaller wrasse, always laying low in the weed:

I thought i’d try a bit of a collage of two sweep shots to see how it looked:

One of the most fascianting little fish i keep seeing, is whats suppose to be juvenile herring cales. I’m still not 100% convinced, but it seems likely they are. They move quickly and blend in perfectly to the erclonia kelp, making them tricky to get shots of.

Here’s another shot showing how the markings compliment the blemishes on the weed perfectly.

And another showing more mature markings.

Thornfish dont provide much of a challenge, they just sit and stare.

And a cleaner shrimp..uneaten this time:

Dive 9: Steeles Rocks

By pfuller

Mar

2

Dive Number: 9 28/02/2010 15.54 Steeles Rocks, Portarlington

Wind: 15-20knot southerlies

Tide: 0.82 high tide at geelong

Conditions: A windy and overcast day, but portarlington being protected from southerlies meant only surface chop, but generally pretty good.

Bottom Type: Rocky Rubble covered in a layer of mud and silt.

Visibilty: 3-5m

Water Temp: 21c

Bottom Time: 107 minutes

Max Depth: 4.2m

Air usage: 165bar/2400psi

SAC: 13.2 litres/min

Details: A dive lesson in overexertion. I swam about 1km from the boatramp towards the peir at a liesurely pace. But decided to vline it back to the boatramp on return, and when surfacing to check my orientation, started to feel a bit dizzy and panicy. An experienced diver died here a couple of months ago and i consider this a vital lesson learnt early. Steeles Rocks is a pretty vast underwater reef system extending about 4km from the pier in the west to well past the boatramp in the east. Its ecology would be considered “the barrens” for the most part, being generally damaged by silt build up on the rocks. This means theres not a lot of marine life to be seen, and its tempting to cover large distances searching and exploring the area. I definently overexerted myself covering this distance, and i think the oxygen demanded by the bodies muscles reduces the oxygen supply to the brain, which can lead to lightheadedness, and potentially blackout. I feel wiser for this experience.

Camera Details: Canon 17-40mm, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: Steeles Rocks could be an amazing place if it was allowed to recover, with some great rocky rubble sections and reef systems with small legdes and overhangs. Unfortunatley a muddy silt covers most of the rock restricting algea and sponge growth. There are still some nice patches around though, with orange sponges and these grey sponge/ascidian formations. Its also got the largest concentration of hard coral that i’ve seen in the bay.

Most of the larger fish species, such as moonlighters and old wives, are very flighty here, due to the area being overused by spearfishers.

So to find good critters at Steeles rocks, you have to check whats under the rocks.

I found this strange green worm which moved by pulsating spherical muscles through its body. UPDATE: This is Metabonellia haswelli.

I didn’t see a lot else of interest , a couple of smooty rays in the sand and under ledges, and a large school of salmon that circled me.

Snorkel at Pt Lonsdale

By pfuller

Mar

2

Point Lonsdale 27-02-2010 – 4.20-5.30

Tides were good for Point Lonsdale after i finished my dive at St Leonards…so as knackered as i was, i couldn’t resist seeing what nudi’s were around in the rockpools. I saw about 5 species, but generally its been very quiet their lately.

First nudi was a Ceratasoma brevicaudatum, which i’ve only seen once or twice before in the rockpools. Much more common in the bay. This one was only about 30mm and very pale in its markings.

While i was photographying this slug, a small Sea Sweep decided to have a taste of this slug. They always seem to have a go at nudi’s only to work out that they taste like crap and quickly spit them out.

The next slug i saw is a small dorid, but i’m not sure what species. Its superficially like Doris Cameroni, but the purple blotches have got me stumped???

Another tiny 10mm nudi there was Halaxa Michaeli:

It was a day of smaller versions of usually much bigger species, this time a small version of Echinopsole breviceratae, one of my favorite species, and what i think is an endemic species to southern waters.

My attention was diverted from nudi’s when i saw a mullet cruising around with something in its mouth. I first thought it was a egg cluster, but soon realised it had a mouthful of Cleaner shrimp! He didn’t seem to be trying to swallow it, so it might have been a bit of a choking hazard.

A big old Seacarp watched all the action from beneath a small legde:

Dive 8: St Leonards Pier

By pfuller

Mar

2

Dive Number: 8 27/02/2010 12.57 St Leonards Pier, Victoria

Wind: 20-25knot southerlies after nightly 10-15knot northerlies

Tide: 0.32 low tide at heads (2hr past 0.82 high tide at geelong)

Conditions: A change from light northerlies at dawn to strong southerlies all morning, made conditions fairly choppy, with visible waves over st leonards sandbar. Visibility was atroscious!

Bottom Type: Sand

Visibilty: 1m increasing to 2-3m at end of dive

Water Temp: 22c

Bottom Time: 149 minutes

Max Depth: 3.7m

Air usage: 175bar/2500psi

SAC: 10.4 litres/min

Details: First dive on scuba at St Leonards. Stayed mainly under the first arm photographying a strange worm in crystalised sand casing, a hermit crab, and sand gobies.

Camera Details: 100mm macro, single SS200 strobe.

Dive Report: The proceeding three days produced northerlies making another cottage by the sea dive likely. However there was a dawn change to strong southerlies making cottage choppy as hell, so i decided to head over to St Leonards to see how that looked. It was far from good, and i knew visibility would be bad, so i change to macro. Despite bad visbility it was fun to scour the bottom and look for small critters. Lotsa of small goatfish foraging through the sand, and double the number of sand gobies, just generally blending into their surroundings.

I found a small crystalised sand cone that i’d seen once before at Portsea. I picked it up thinking it was a discarded home for some critter, but noticed there was something living within it. Something with amazingly golden fins acting as a shield to protect the entrance.

I put it down on the sand and waited to see if this critter would come out to show itself.

Eventually it did. I’m not sure how to describe what it was…some type of sand worm, that used these golden fins as diggers to dig into the sand. UPDATE: This is Pectinaria antipoda.

Another small sand critter trying to blend into the sand was a Lizardfish. It’s kind of like a small flathead with a more lizard-like head.

There are a lot of Hermit crabs at St Leonards. This one withdrew into its shell when i approached, but eventually went about its work presenting a photo opportunity.

Southern Cardinalfish are pretty morose little fish…just floating around in the shadows and rarely moving much. They have cool eye colours though..like most fish eyes.

Leatherjackets are always pretty inquistive…these small ones anyway…the ones that cant fit on the end of a spear.

Overall a pretty good dive considering the conditions. There was a squadron of about 15 small squid when i was leaving. Too difficult to get a photo of in the low vis though.