Dive 65- Edithburgh Pool to Jetty

By pfuller

Jul

29

Dive Number: 65 17/07/2010 09.35 Edithburgh Pool to Jetty

Wind: 10-15 knot NE’s

Tide: 2.5hr after 1.91 high tide at Port Giles

Conditions: A very ordinary day, raining and overcast and the sea wasn’t exactly calm with slightly onshore winds.

Bottom Type: Rocky reef with some ledges, until reaching jetty. Then sandy bottom scattered with old wooden jetty pylons covered in sponges. Pylons themselves were also heavily covered in ascidians, sponge and marine life.

Visibilty: 3-4m Visibility was really bad in the shallows until i got in deeper water around the jetty.

Water Temp: 12c

Bottom Time: 67 minutes

Max Depth: 7.6m

Air usage: 105bar/1500psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: This was my last dive on the Yorke, since i had to drop back the tank to the dive shop who were holding a class at 11am. I decided to enter at the Edithburgh Tidal pool and work my way up to the Jetty in a last ditch attempt to find a Leafy Seadragon. Vis was aweful and an didn’t see a lot around the ledges. I pretty much v-lined it straight the jetty.

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

Dive Report: I entered at the Tidal Pool and it was pretty rough entry with waves lapping up against the concrete walls. I got out into some deeper water and dropped into about 5m and followed a reef along. there was very little around and i didn’t take a photo before reaching the jetty. Along the edge of the jetty, it gets to its deepest (7-8m)and there were a lot of spider crabs along this deeper section. and clinging to the outer edge of the pylons.

I headed out to the back of the jetty, were the most fish are. Mainly Moonlighters, sweep and zebrafish.

Some general shots of the pylons and growth.

A clutser of fanworms:

A dusky morwong:

This boxfish didn’t seem to mind being photographed.

A dance with a crab before exiting:

Dive 64 – Edithburgh Jetty – Night Dive

By pfuller

Jul

28

Dive Number: 64 16/07/2010 20.20 Edithburgh Jetty

Wind: 10 knot NE’s

Tide: 1.5hr after 2.09 high tide at Port Giles

Conditions: The wind had eased a bit and conditions were pretty good.

Bottom Type: Sandy bottom scattered with old wooden jetty pylons covered in sponges. Pylons themselves were also heavily covered in ascidians, sponge and marine life.

Visibilty: OK

Water Temp: 13c

Bottom Time: 69 minutes

Max Depth: 4.9m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Edithburgh night dive take two. The Cats played Adeliade so i thought i get back for the second half to see the cats thump the crows after photographying Pyjama Squid. Unfortunately niether happened. I’m am though, after this dive, officially known as Underwaterman, after being named by some young kids on the jetty who couldn’t leave until they saw me get out of the water, after watching my torchlight and strobe flash in the darkness.

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

Dive Report: Again i searched for Pyjama squid with no success. I decided to check out the Seahorse area, and amazed to find at least six all clinging to the same piece of weed. I managed to get 4 in the shot.

These Sponge crabs were a constant source of amusement..possibly the least aggressive crab species i’ve come across…they just try to waddle way. This one nearly walked over a dumpling squid hinding in the sand.

A bit of pylon growth:

This cobbler was in the shallows before i got out;

Dive 63 – Edithburgh Jetty

By pfuller

Jul

27

Dive Number: 63 16/07/2010 16.00 Edithburgh Jetty

Wind: 10-15 knot NE’s

Tide: 2.5hr beforee 2.09 high tide at Port Giles

Conditions: The wind had swung around to NE which blew up the bay a bit, but it was still very diveable. It was raining most of the day a glum overcast conditions.

Bottom Type: Sandy bottom scattered with old wooden jetty pylons covered in sponges. Pylons themselves were also heavily covered in ascidians, sponge and marine life.

Visibilty: 6m

Water Temp: 13c

Bottom Time: 73 minutes

Max Depth: 5.2m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Things move slowly in Edithburgh. I needed a tank fill and thank god there is at least one in Edithburgh..the the only one on the Yorke…and they give nice deep fills too. But you have to wait for them. So in the meantime we drove to check out the massive wind farm they have near by. By 4pm, it was fairly dark so i still didn’t get a nice brightly lit look at edithburgh, but it was a nice dive still.

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

Dive Report: This dive was all about the pylons. Here’s some of the colours of the jetty.

Spider crabs everywhere!

Theres not a lot of fishlife around, but at the end of the pier you get a few schools. Here’s a Moonlighter:

A Wavy Grubfish..a species we dont get in victoria as far as i know.

A Nudibranch – Ceratasoma Brevicardum – in a bunch of ascidians.

Dive 62 – Wool Bay Jetty

By pfuller

Jul

27

Dive Number: 62 16/07/2010 11.15 Wool Bay Jetty

Wind: 10 knot N’s

Tide: hr before 0.70 low tide at Port Giles

Conditions: The sun was shining and the water look immaculate. Still. clear and inviting.

Bottom Type: Large beds of seagrass with patches of various brown algaes. Small sand patches.

Visibilty: Beautifully clean…possibly 15m vis.

Water Temp: 12c

Bottom Time: 77 minutes

Max Depth: 3.1m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Wool Bay has the reputation of being THE place to see Leafy Seadragons. After seeing none on this dive i was very dissappointed, and even more so on hearing that apparently the resident Leafies were poached about 5 weeks ago.

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

Dive Report: The main search was for Leafy Seadragons, and the amazing visibility was going to make for some great photo possibilities. The water was full of small shrimp which seadragons love, so i was hopeful some wouldn’t be far away. I snapped off some shots of the clouds of shrimp.

Unfortunately i didn’t come across any Leafies, but it was a great shallow dive anyway. Here’s a few shots of the terrain around and under the jetty.

Not a lot of fish around apart from a large school of juvenile Old wives.

A Bridled??Leatherjacket was pretty happy to stick around for some photos.

There were a lot of squid fisherman on the jetty and looked like they were having a good day. I saw at least two being caught from underwater. Here’s a sequence of one squid taking a live bait, but then getting greedy and falling prey to a looming jig.

A Mosiac Leatherjacket had the right idea stick close to the pylons away from the line of fire.

Not sure what this is..an urchin or something:

This crab blended in beautifully in the surrounding weed:

A bit of a record shot of some type of hulafish that i dont see over in victoria.

Dive 61 – Edithburgh Jetty – Night Dive

By pfuller

Jul

27

Dive Number: 61 15/07/2010 20.24 Edithburgh Jetty

Wind: 10 knot NW’s

Tide: 2.5hr after 2.26 high tide at Port Giles

Conditions: A dark and stormy night…no just kiddding. The skies were clear and little breeze. A small crescent moon. Great conditions for a night dive.

Bottom Type: Sandy bottom scattered with old wooden jetty pylons covered in sponges. Pylongs themselves were also heavily covered in ascidians, sponge and marine life.

Visibilty: Water nice and clean.. Vis was the length of my torch beam.

Water Temp: 12c

Bottom Time: 63 minutes

Max Depth: 4.3m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: This was my first ever night dive on scuba. I’d been for night snorkels before, but this was something new. I wasn’t totally prepared with a focus light, but managed to grab a couple of small LED torches off ebay before i’d left and whacked them in a small film UW housing. It worked ok as a light, but not the best as a focus light. I was excited about the possibilty of seeing pyjama squid .

Camera Details: Canon 100mm , single SS200 strobe

Dive Report: On arriving at the pier, the fisherman were telling me that the Blood worms were out and its something that only happens a few times a year. They reckon they have no chance of catching any fish because the fish go nuts for the blood worms. I didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing for me, but i was after macro stuff anyway, so i wouldn’t be able to snap any fish if there were plenty around. Turns out i didn’t see one fish on the dive. But also didn’t see a pyjama squid either..a couple of Bobtails, but that was it. Even the blood worms were too big for my 100mm macro lens..but here’s one burying into the sand.

While searching the sand for exposed pyjama squid eyes, the occassional anemone took my fancy as a practice for the squids.

The many eyes of a scallop:

I do tell a lie..i did see some fish…pygmy leatherjackets..abou the size of a 50cent piece. It really didn’t want to be seen.

These Tasmanian Clingfish were also very shy. I generally felt like an invader on this night dive. Nothing came up for a hug.

I’m not sure what this is…maybe some type of sea squirt???

A small Cuttlefish was close to shore on exit. He was still too big for anything but an eyeshot with my macro lens.

Overall i was little dissappointed not to find Pyjama squid, but i still had a second night dive planned, so all was not lost.

Dive 60 – Edithburgh Jetty

By pfuller

Jul

26

Dive Number: 60 15/07/2010 17.15 Edithburgh Jetty

Wind: 10 knot NW’s

Tide: 1hr before 2.26 high tide at Port Giles

Conditions: Drizzling rain on dusk. A bit of surface chop and slight current but nothing major.

Bottom Type: Sandy bottom scattered with old wooden jetty pylons covered in sponges. Pylongs themselves were also heavily covered in ascidians, sponge and marine life.

Visibilty: 6-8m

Water Temp: 12c

Bottom Time: 29 minutes

Max Depth: 5.1m

Air usage: 55bar/800psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: I’d heard a lot about how good Edithburgh is as a night dive, so arriving at dusk, i thought i’d do a quick dive just to familiarise myself with the area and conditions before attempting it in total darkness.

Camera Details: Sigma 17-70mm , single SS200 strobe

Dive Report: The number of different crab species was again impressive at Edithburgh. Here’s a few of the local crab species:

I read there was a small patch of weed that seahorse’s loved to hang out on. I found it without any problems but the weed swaying in the movement of the water made it difficult to get sharp photos, especially in low light.

A seacumber..tasty.

A small sand goby on a shell.

I got my first taste of the great ascidian growth on the pylons.

The night time residents were starting to appear. This cardinal fish looked a bit dazed still.

A suprise visitor to my torch light was a Ringed Toadfish that came over to check me out.

A nice warm up dive into the wonders of Edithburgh Jetty, and staying directly accross the road was going to make for easy access for the night dive.

Dive 59 – Stansbury Jetty, Yorke Peninsula

By pfuller

Jul

22

Dive Number: 59 15/07/2010 15.40 Stansbury Jetty

Wind: 10 knot NW’s

Tide: 3.5hr after 0.68 low tide at Port Giles

Conditions: Dull and overcast conditions had set in , with some rain during the dive.. Water was fairly mucky, as was the dive in general. Possibly due to incoming tide and rain though.

Bottom Type: Thick carpet of seagrass with small patches of shell grit base. Jetty pylons with cvery little growth.

Visibilty: 5m

Water Temp: 12c

Bottom Time: 51 minutes

Max Depth: 4.2m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Stansbury Jetty was the next stop on my way down south to Edithburgh. Again this was another jetty i read very little about but i though i’d give it a go. This was basically a muck dive with very little around apart from a lot of Razorfish shells.

Camera Details: Singma 17-70mm , single SS200 strobe

Dive Report: I entered the water and soon spotted fishing rod. maybe a bad omen. I started to turn on my camera and strobe, only to realise that i hadn’t flicked the auto focus switch on my camera, so i had to make my way back out, which was a good opportunity to grab the fishing rod and return it to the car. Take two: i reentered and swam about half way out. I noticed small fish ‘parachuting’ from the pylon and dropping to the sea floor. I roughly saw where he landed, so descended and tried to locate him. Bingo! An Anglerfish sitting motionless next to a Razorfish shell. A great find at a jetty that seemed to promise so little.

A pylon was just to the left in the above shot and it made it very difficult to get close and get a nice composition. This was the best i could manage, but i’m glad i decided to take off the fisheye and put the sigma 17-70 on. James Peake reckons this is a Spinycoat Anglerfish, Trichophryne mitchellii, a pretty rare species, so i consider myself lucky lucky to spot this guiuy the way i did.

After leaving the anglerfish i headed over to the break wall, but there were only a few zebrafish. If it wasn’t for the anglerfish i wouldn’t recommend this dive at all.

Dive 58 – Ardrossan Jetty, Yorke Peninsula

By pfuller

Jul

22

Dive Number: 58 15/07/2010 13.00 Ardrossan Jetty

Wind: 10 knot NW’s

Tide: 1hr after 0.68 low tide at Port Giles

Conditions: Still conditions being protected from the westerlies. Water was very clear.

Bottom Type: A white clay bottom under the jetty.

Visibilty: 8-10m

Water Temp: 13c

Bottom Time: 47 minutes

Max Depth: 4.5m

Air usage: 55bar/800psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: After arriving in Adeliade early in the morning, i got picked up by my parents who were travelling through on there way inland, and kindly allowed me to hijack thier plans and drive me down to the Yorke for some diving. We picked up a tank for a dive shop in Adeliade, and headed up to POrt Wakefiled and onto the Yorke Peninsula. I hadn’t heard much about Ardrossan, but i thought it was worth getting in a dive up the north of the Yorke, since i wouldn’t have a tank on my way back through, as i was dropping it off at Edithburgh, as the dive shop were running a class the morning i left. Ardrossan was a quaint little place with red cliffs and a small little jetty. It was a shallow dive, but the water was so clean, and it was unique diving on a white clay base.

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

Dive Report: The jetty pylons where fairly sparse and not richly covered with sponge growth but there was some nice growth.

There were signs up about the Blue Swimmer Crabs all along the Yorke, but Ardrossan gave me my best views in shallow well lit water. They are very cool crabs, and as the name suggest, can swim like nothing else when you get too close. I though this one wanted a hug, but i think he just wanted to nip me!

I was very impressed to see one had managed to score a squid to munch on. Not sure if it was self-caught or maybe a fishermans scraps???

I’d have to call the Yorke Peninsula the Crab crab centre of Australia. I saw at least 8 different species of crab without looking very hard. I came accross a small family of three hermit crabs, and one was particularly photogenic.

Dive 57 – Cottage by the Sea

By pfuller

Jul

21

Dive Number: 57 08/07/2010 13.56 Cottage by the Sea

Wind: 10 knot NW’s???

Tide: SWF – 1hr after 0.90 low tide at heads

Conditions: A big low tide meant there was a noticeable swell occuring, and the rock shelf was totally submerged. Conditions were far from perfect. Surgey and milky conditions.

Bottom Type: Reef ledges and overhangs.

Visibilty: 3-4m

Water Temp: 13c

Bottom Time: 60 minutes

Max Depth: 9.6m

Air usage: 125bar/1800psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Visibility was ordinary so i decided to descend early. This is the first time i’ve got lost at Cottage, but it was actually really enjoyable. I think i ended up out the back and to the east of the normal legdes and found some really interesting terrian. The sponge and plant life was much more prolific than the usual cottage ledges, and i reach a depth of nearly 10m. The surge and vis was annoying, but it felt like a completely new dive site. I did this dive with two large hip weights as a test for an upcoming trip, and it was really uncomfortable and made me overweighted. The walk back to the car across the sand was hell! There was a couple of rest stops along the way.

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

Dive Report: It was too milky for any good photos with the fisheye on, but a couple of shots of this blue softcoral came out ok.

Dive Number 56 – The Grotto

By pfuller

Jul

20

Dive Number: 56 08/07/2010 11.33 The Grotto

Wind: 10 knot Westerlies???

Tide: SWF – 3.5hrs after 1.37 high tide at heads

Conditions: Overcast day, with the sun promising to peak out but it never really happened. The heads were fairly calm, but some big swell outside the heads on the horizon.

Bottom Type: Reef ledges and overhangs with some scattered bommies.

Visibilty: 6m

Water Temp: 13c

Bottom Time: 48 minutes

Max Depth: 18.8m

Air usage: 140bar/2000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: My first boat dive in the heads, and i was very impressed. Heaps of colour and fishlife. Not the best vis, but not too shabby. I was just happy to finally be experiencing the quality of temperate diving thats found in Port Phillip Bay that i’ve heard so much about.

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

Dive Report: No crap…just photos..and Tony the Prawn:

Dive 55: St Leonards Pier

By pfuller

Jul

9

Dive Number: 55 03/07/2010 11.47 St Leonards Pier

Wind: 10 knot Westerlies

Tide: 2hrs before 0.38 low tide at geelong

Conditions: A pretty typical wintery day, but westerly winds meant the water was nice and calm. Cold as hell though….10c already!

Bottom Type: Pier Pylons over sand.

Visibilty: 6m

Water Temp: 10c (it burns!)

Bottom Time: 87 minutes

Max Depth: 3.5m

Air usage: 140bar/2000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: I’d just bought a 7mm neoprene drysuit, so this was mostly a dive to give it a try and get my weighting right. The lure of photographying the Pale Octopus again with a wider lens was also strong. After 10 minutes of screwing around, adding some more weight, and working out i needed some leg weights, i got busy with the photos.

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

Dive Report: I caught up with the Pale Octopus again on this dive. Plus one of his night time buddies, a Cobbler. The rest of the time was just shooting some scapes.

Dive 54 – Blairgowrie Pier

By pfuller

Jul

9

Dive Number: 54 27/06/2010 16.48 Blairgowrie Pier

Wind: 15 knot Westerlies

Tide: 4 hours after 1.40 high tide at the heads

Conditions: Dull and overcast., approaching dusk.

Bottom Type: Pier Pylonsand wall over sand.

Visibilty: 4m

Water Temp: 12c

Bottom Time: 32 minutes

Max Depth: 4.0m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Last ferry back across to queenscliffe was at six, which with early winter sunsets, meant i could almost do a night dive at Blairgowrie..but i’d had to be quick. It turned out that it was really just a dusk dive, and i didn’t see any interesting night critters that blairgowries famous for.

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

Dive Report: I didn’t see much..a few crabs, a sea cucumber and admired the growth on the walls. Here’s a few pics.

Dive 53 – Portsea Pier

By pfuller

Jul

9

Dive Number: 53 27/06/2010 15.33 Portsea Pier

Wind: 15 knot Westerlies

Tide: 3.5 after 1.40 high tide at the heads

Conditions: Shivery, icy cold conditions..dull and overcast. A great day for diving!

Bottom Type: Pier Pylons over sand with surrounding rocky reef .

Visibilty: 5m

Water Temp: 13c

Bottom Time: 40 minutes

Max Depth: 5.4m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: After reaching shiver point at Flinders pier, i drove over to Portsea hoping the car heater would get my body temp up for another dive by the time i reached Portsea. Their seemed to be a fair current flowing around the pier and the water was lapping up on an angle against new sand break walls that have been installed to protect the beach from washing away. I wasn’t sure whether it was going to be diveable, until talked to some divers who were heading in and they assured me that the current wouldn’t be very strong. I didn’t have much air so this was just a bit of a dive to bring back memories of my OW course which had its first dive here.

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

Dive Report: I was mainly chasing more cowfish shots because i wasn’t happy with the ones i got at flinders. The only one i spotted kept on running away from me though, so just mainly looked around and concentrated on things that dont move much…like this thornfish.

And a few shots of the growth around the area.

Dive 52: Flinders Pier

By pfuller

Jul

9

Dive Number: 52 27/06/2010 12.52 Flinders Pier

Wind: 15 knot Westerlies

Tide: 1.40 high tide at Flinders

Conditions: Shivery, icy cold conditions..dull and overcast. A great day for diving!

Bottom Type: Pier Pylons over seagrass beds.

Visibilty: 4m

Water Temp: 13c

Bottom Time: 81 minutes

Max Depth: 5.6m

Air usage: 140bar/2000psi

SAC: 13.7 litres/min

Details: Another impromptu trip to the Mornington Peninsula. Weather was god-awful, and i felt about the same but i made the most of it while i was in the area.

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

Dive Report: I put the 17-40mm on for this dive, despite bad experiences with it in the past. I think mid range lens have the biggest learning curve compared to dedicated macro and wide angle. The biggest concern being the working distance which is far greater on the 17-40mm, so you have to adjust and make sure you dont get too close to stop focus lock. Cowfish were the target species for this dive, but i stilll didn’t nail the shot i was after. Here’s a few that i had to make do with:

Lots of Goatfish around…

Some shots of the growth on the pylons:

You cant go to Flinders without snapping off a few shots of the weedy seadragons:

At the end of the dive i saw a 1.5m shark off the end of the pier. I couldn’t make out the species and i’m not all that familiar with whats in the area, but my guess was it was a large gummy. Unfortunatly it took off quickly so i didn’t get any shots.