Dive Number: 43 23/05/2010 14.21 Blairgowrie Pier
Wind: 5 knot SE’s
Tide: 2.5hrs after 0.57 low tide at the Heads
Conditions: The day was getting colder with a bit of cloud build up, but still a nice day. Conditions were a touch choppy but not too bad. I noted that i did too dives on the Bellarine peninsula yesterday, both were 14C at 12pm and 2pm in 7m and 3m. Today, on the Mornington Peninsula, i did two dives at 12pm and 2pm in 4m and 6m and they were both 15C. Looks like the Mornington Peninsula waters is a touch warmer!
Bottom Type: Sand bottom with pier pylons and a metal break wall covered in sponge.
Water Temp: 15c
Bottom Time: 71 minutes
Max Depth: 6.1m
Air usage: 100bar/1400psi
SAC: 12.7 litres/min
Details: I’d finished my dive at Flinders Pier and Blairgowrie was on the way home. ; ) Catching the ferry back to Queenscliffe was on the cards, coz there was no way i was driving all the way back through Melbourne to Geelong. The dive produced a massive ray that was eyeballing me. Of course..this was a macro dive, so no pics. I was pretty dissappointed not to find more nudi’s but i saw a few, so it kept me happy enough. Luckily i’d brought a spare strobe battery since my other battery died during my flinders dive.
Camera Details: Canon 17-40mm , single SS200 strobe.
Dive Report: Blairgowrie has a big reputation for critters, but i really didn’t set my expectations high for seeing the likes of a Tassled Angler. I put my eyes in the nudi world, and hoped to find a few new species. It started off well with Doriopsilla carneola appearing straight off the bat.
This small little marine plant had a nice structure too it.
I came across some type of goby. I initially thought it had a bit of luecism to it (lacking skin pigmentation) since it had a whitish back that didn’t look right, but maybe its just a different species that i’m not use to.
There’s some really nice ascidians at Blairgowrie with some interesting textures.
Here’s another species of ascidian:
A young globefish wondered what i was doing and did a swim by…slightly inqusitive.
I continued out to the end of the pier and came across two Chromodoris tinctoria, which i’d seen before, but only at Blairgowrie. Obviously a fairly common species here.
Right out the back of the pier, it drops off into about 6m of water. In an old tractor tyre were a pair of fish using it as a home. I’m not sure what these ara, maybe juvenile rosy wrasse???
I headed back towards shore but it looked like i’d only notch up 2 nudi species…a bit dissappointing. I spotted this tiny little decorator crab…always hard to distinguish these guys from weed in photos.
This small Pygmy Leatherjacket was just whistling away, minding its own business.
While i took photos of him.
A wry smile from a wrasse as i left Blairgowrie and headed to Sorrento to catch the Ferry home.
