Dive 206 – St Leonards Pier

By pfuller

Oct

29

Dive Number: 206 29/10/11 16.21, St Leonards Pier

Wind: 10knot south westerlies

Tide: Low tide at Geelong??

Conditions: Cant remember..i’m catching up on posts

Visibilty: 5-6m

Water Temp: 17.6c

Bottom Time: 113minutes

Max Depth: 4.0m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: A macro dive at St Leonards. The usual suspects around with a couple of fish i couldn’t ID. I found another stargazer…after just coming across one at Portarlington. This one was checking out the gobies as a potential snack. There were lots of mysid shrimp around, so i tried to get some 1:1s of the tiny little critters.

Camera Details: Canon 60mm , SS200 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 205 – Steeles Rocks

By pfuller

Oct

26

Dive Number: 205 26/10/11 18.12, Steeles Rocks, Portarlington

Wind: 15knot aouth-easterlies

Tide: High Tide at Geelong

Conditions: Water was very dirty.

Visibilty: 1-2m

Water Temp: 16c

Bottom Time: 84minutes

Max Depth: 3.7m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: The water clarity was aweful, (which is really the norm at this site) but this was pretty bad. I found a cuttle under one of the ledges that looked like it was on it last legs/”tenticles”. It seemed to be panting for air and just laying there otherwise motionless. It felt wrong taking photos of it so i moved on pretty quickly. The vis made it hard to find any decent subjects, i photographed some sponge structures and saw a school of salmon. I was suprised to feel movement under my elbow, as was the stargazer that was under it. It raised itself from it buried position in the sand and stayed fully visible for a minute or so letting me get a phew snaps, then quickly took off after coming out of its stunned state.

Camera Details: Canon 60mm , SS200 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 204 – Pt Lonsdale Kelp Forests

By pfuller

Oct

23

Dive Number: 204 23/10/11 17.21, Pt Lonsdale – Kelp Forests

Wind: 15knot northerlies

Tide: Slack Water at the Heads

Conditions: Building swell creating surge and dark, dirt-ish water. Storm fronts approaching.

Visibilty: 6m

Water Temp: 15.6c

Bottom Time: 81minutes

Max Depth: 4.0m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: This is when an obsession turns dangerous. I ‘needed’ to dive the Kelp forest again, but the conditions were far from perfect. Storms were predicted and the swell was building, but i headed out anyway, feeling confident in my past experience with the area. I never would have attempt this a couple of weeks ago. The surge was annoying the water was dark, but being is this body of water during thunderstorm was exhilerating. Shooting the rain falling on the surface was a bit of fun.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS200/SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 203 – The Narrows

By pfuller

Oct

23

Dive Number: 203 23/10/11 14.26, The Narrows – Pt Lonsdale

Wind: 15knot northerlies

Tide: Low tide at the Heads

Conditions: Very fast current running.

Visibilty: 8m

Water Temp: 15.2c

Bottom Time: 63minutes

Max Depth: 5.5m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: This area is always very current affected, so i just tried to stay low and keep sheltered behind some bommies. Some great algae in this area.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS200/SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 202 – Pt Lonsdale – Kelp Forest

By pfuller

Oct

22

Dive Number: 202 22/10/11 17.24, Pt Lonsdale Kelp Forest

Wind: 15knot northerlies

Tide: Slack water at the Heads

Conditions: Surgey with waves of swell running past the platform.

Visibilty: 6m

Water Temp: 14.8c

Bottom Time: 51minutes

Max Depth: 4.4m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Chris and Harry were keen to check out the Kelp Forest and pretty sure they were impressed by the sight. Conditions weren’t the best, and swell was lapping up onto the platform making entry difficult. The surge was a little unnerving, but vistas are worth it. Harry found a Johnston Weedfish sitting in the algae..a great find! The surge continueously pushed the weed over it, making it difficult to get a clear shot at it, but chris and harry did a great job of holding back the weed so i could get a couple of records shots. Thanks Guys! This is always an impressive dive.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS200/SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 201 – Beach 10B – Friendly Bommie

By pfuller

Oct

22

Dive Number: 201 22/10/11 14.36, Beach 10B – Search for Freindly Bommie

Wind: 15knot northerlies

Tide: 1hr before low tide at the Heads

Conditions: A bit of current around.

Visibilty: 6m

Water Temp: 14.8c

Bottom Time: 82minutes

Max Depth: 9.9m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Caught up with Chris and Harry for a search for the illusive Friendly Bommie. In true Friendly Bommie tradition it was found right at the end of the dive on basically zero air, but its always the journey that makes it interesting. The current and visibility where fairly poor, but on decent we dropped straight onto a big smooth ray, who took off pretty quickly. The biggest highlight of the dive was a very photographic Varied Catshark. A small cuttlefish also put in an appearance. It was great to find friendly bommie, but despite the name the three cowfish we saw weren’t that happy to see us. Always great to see this fish over this side though.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS200/SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 200 – Pt Lonsdale – Kelp Forest

By pfuller

Oct

21

Dive Number: 200 21/10/11 15.45, Pt Lonsdale Kelp Forest

Wind: 15knot northerlies

Tide: Slack Water at the Heads

Conditions:

Visibilty: 6m

Water Temp: 15.2c

Bottom Time: 53minutes

Max Depth: 4.2m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: I was looking foward to seeing the Kelp Forest that Phil had been photographying over the last couple of weeks, and i wasn’t disappointed. This area is very slack water dependent and the currents that rip through shark alley (or the swashaway) can be fearsome. So finding the right day with low swell and the right slack water timing was essential. I felt safe despite the surge and the towering algae forests that not only limit visibility, but also provide some major tangling hazards, (especially with a camera rig like mine), so a knife is an essential bit of kit hear. It was hard to capture the ambience of these kelp forests on camera…so i’m going to keep trying but a couple of pics came out ok.

P.s. Didn’t even realise this was my 200th dive else i would have scared you al with some human nudi photos ! ; )

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS200/SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 199 – The Pipelines – Indented Heads

By pfuller

Oct

16

Dive Number: 199 16/10/11 16.53, The Pipeline

Wind: 15knot westerlies

Tide: high tide at Geelong

Conditions: overcast, windy but flat at st leonards.

Visibilty: 6m

Water Temp: 14.8c

Bottom Time: 99minutes

Max Depth: 4.1m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: I’d wanted to get another dive in at this location for a while, but the lure of Ocean dives had kept me away. The area was nice and quiet (no jetskis) so it was a good opportunity to check it out again. This was a really enjoyable dive…some nice sponge growth under the pipelines, and many rays hanging out underneath. The tops are dominated by kelp and home to lots of filter feeding ascidians. Between the pipelines where thousands of tiny shrimp forming clouds in the water. A decorator crab out in the open was a big highlight, and no fish seemed to be stuck in the inlet filters this time.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS200/SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 198 – St Leonards Pier

By pfuller

Oct

15

Dive Number: 198 15/10/11 18.38, St Leonards Pier

Wind: 15knot westerlies

Tide: high tide at Geelong

Conditions: overcast, windy but flat at st leonards.

Visibilty: 6m

Water Temp: 16.0c

Bottom Time: 67minutes

Max Depth: 4.3m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Camera issues on this dive left me with no strobe, so just a few ambient light shots. I do like the movement in the ray shot and the moonlighter shot has a painterly quality too… so not a total right off photography dive.

Camera Details: Canon 60mm , SS200 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 197 – Barwon Bluff – Estuary

By pfuller

Oct

14

Dive Number: 197 14/10/11 10.36, Barwon Bluff – Estuary

Wind: 10knot northerlies

Tide: ?? tide at the heads

Conditions: Fine and Sunny, but swell higher than expected. Very surgey in the water, causing sand clouds in the water.

Visibilty: 4m

Water Temp: 14.4c

Bottom Time: 44minutes

Max Depth: 6.1m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Conditions seemed promising for a dive at Barwon Bluff, so i met Phil in the morning. The swell was up however so we decided to dive in the Estuary side of the bluff instead, as it was a bit more protected from the swell. Phil had an unexpected family commitment to attend to, so i ended up diving this alone. I headed out over the rocks, as far as the rocks would allow me. This side of the bluff is dominated by basalt rock, which makes it more undulating terrain and more dangerous underfoot. So i got in the water as soon as possible to avoid an inevitable fall if i continued out in the slippery rocks carrying tank and camera. Straight off the edge of the platform and bull kelp and large brown kelp is everywhere. The surge was bad, as was the vis, so i headed for deeper water asap. The dive wasn’t overly enjoyable…just too surgey… but a pass by from a Draughtboard Shark made it all worthwhile. It does turn into interesting terrain and has some good kelp stands but the sand in the water in this area has always made this a low vis dive. The other side of the bluff is definently the better dive.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS200/SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Snorkel at Curlewis

By pfuller

Oct

13

13/10/2011 12.10 Curlewis

Tide: High at Geelong

Wind: ???

Conditions: ????

Bottom Type: Sandy/rocky reef

Details: Curlewis is a great spot for anenomes. I tried some underover shots in the shallows and then headed out finding some nudibranchsand a big sea cucumber.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm

Photos:

Dive 196 – Portarlington Pier

By pfuller

Oct

12

Dive Number: 194 12/10/11 20.14, Portarlington Pier

Wind: 10knot southerlies

Tide: High tide at Geelong

Conditions: ???

Visibilty: 5m

Water Temp: 14c

Bottom Time: 89minutes

Max Depth: 3.1m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: This turned into a night dive and lots of cool critters came out, including a couple of snake eels, a baby lions mane jellyfish and the real suprise , a ring-backed pipefish…the first time i’ve seen one of these on the Bellarine Peninsula. More Cerberillas around again tonight too, plus a couple of other nudi’s, a goby and a fish i’m yet to ID. Great muck dive…i need to night dive more often.

Camera Details: Canon 60mm , SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 195 – Portarlington Pier

By pfuller

Oct

9

Dive Number: 194 09/10/11 18.33, Portarlington Pier

Wind: 10knot southerlies

Tide: High tide at Geelong

Conditions: ???

Visibilty: 5m.

Water Temp: 14.0c

Bottom Time: 67minutes

Max Depth: 3.0m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: I was suprised by the number of nudi’s around under the pier. Good numbers of Cerberilla around and a pygmy squid made a good subject.

Camera Details: Canon 60mm , SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 194 – Cottage by the Sea

By pfuller

Oct

8

Dive Number: 194 08/10/11 13.58, Cottage by the Sea

Wind: 10-15knot north/north-easterlies

Tide: Low tide at the Heads

Conditions: Not the best..surgey and cloudy

Visibilty: 6m.

Water Temp: ?c

Bottom Time: 60 oddminutes

Max Depth: 8-10m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Caught up with Chris and Harry for a dive. Heaps of different seastars around..at least 6 species on the ledges. Also a weedy seadragon encounter.

N.B. My computer didn’t record this dive, so log details will be inaccurate.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive 193 – The Springs

By pfuller

Oct

7

Dive Number: 193 07/10/11 17.07, The Springs

Wind: 10-15knot north/north-easterlies

Tide: Low tide at the Heads

Conditions: ???

Visibilty: 4m.

Water Temp: ?c

Bottom Time: 60 odd minutes

Max Depth: 4-5m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Vis was pretty miserable, and i took the 60mm lens for a spin for some fish portraits. It didn’t work well with the bad vis though and i really should have stuck to macro.

N.B. My computer didn’t record this dive, so log details will be inaccurate.

Camera Details: Canon 60mm , SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive192 – The Springs

By pfuller

Oct

4

Dive Number: 192 04/10/11 16.37, The Springs

Wind: 10-15knot north/north-easterlies

Tide: High

Conditions: ???

Visibilty: 8-10m.

Water Temp: ?c

Bottom Time: 60 odd minutes

Max Depth: 4-5m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: The algea and weed life was looking great at the Springs. The sun was in a nice position to do some sunbursts.

N.B. My computer didn’t record this dive, so log details will be inaccurate.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS400 Strobe

Photos:

Dive191 – Pt Lonsdale Pier

By pfuller

Oct

4

Dive Number: 191 04/10/11 13.31, Pt Lonsdale Pier

Wind: 10-15knot north/north-easterlies

Tide: Slack Water at the Heads

Conditions: Not bad but too rough to dive the outer legdes.

Visibilty: 8m.

Water Temp: ?c

Bottom Time: 60 odd minutes

Max Depth: 4m

Air usage: 70bar/1000psi

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: My first dive back from 6 weeks out of the water. Caught up with Phil, and also dived with Michael and Dave (photo editor of the Melbourne Down Under book).

N.B. My computer didn’t record this dive, so log details will be inaccurate.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , SS400 Strobe

Photos: