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!