Dive 538 – Tourch Reef

Dec

Dive Number: 538 31/12/2013 Tourch Reef

Conditions:

Visibilty: 15m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 50minutes

Max Depth: 20m

Details: Tourch Reef is a slack dive in Port Phillip Heads back towards Shortlands Bluff. Although not dramatic like the wall, the colours and sponges in this area are brilliant. It was a great photography dive…Check out the photo of the blue devil..see the tiny baby blue devil to the right? The tide really rips through this area and we travelled a fair way on the safety stop, but the skipper had keen eyes (and a sweaty brow) so we survived the pickup..thanks Dad!

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 537 – Blairgowrie Marina

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 537 30/12/2013 Blairgowrie Marina

Conditions:

Visibilty: 8m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 80minutes

Max Depth: 6m

Details: I tried some new strobe positionings on this dive at Blairgowrie and was impressed by some of the results. Blairgowrie rarely has a shortage of subjects.

Camera Details: Canon 60mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 356 – Chinamans Hat Seals

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 536 30/12/2013 Seals at Chinamans Hat

Conditions:

Visibilty: 12m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 40minutes

Max Depth: 18m

Details: The water looked crystal clear on the surface, but the strong sunlight and sand content in the water made photographing the seals difficult. The seals weren’t in the most welcoming mood with the large alpha male making some close barking passes and barking at us creatures carrying strange-looking apparatus.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 535 – Dales Arch – Pt Addis Marine Park

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 535 28/12/2013 Dales Arch, Point Addis Marine Park

Conditions:

Visibilty: 15m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 40minutes

Max Depth: 18m

Details: Conditions were so good i had to head back to the boat to convince Soph to come for a dive and check out the arch. A unique purple algae was common at this site.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 534 – Dales Arch – Pt Addis Marine Park

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 534 28/12/2013 Dales Arch, Point Addis Marine Park

Conditions:

Visibilty: 15m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 40minutes

Max Depth: 18m

Details: Based off some of the Lidar scans that Parks Vic had produced of the Point Addis Marine Park, i picked out an interesting looking area and sounded around. The results was a great little site sitting in about 16-18m and rising to 5m. The large bommie was covered in lush kelp and the water clarity and sunny conditions really set off the colours of the kelp. The bommie was teaming with reef fish together with crays, blue devils, rainbow cale and all the common local species. The biggest feature of the site is a big archway which joins the east and west bommies. This was just such an easy and beautiful dive in ideal conditions.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Snorkel at Point Lonsdale

By pfuller

Dec

Snorkel at Point Lonsdale 26/12/2013

Conditions:

Details: A quick snorkel around the rock shelves at Pt Lonsdale.

Camera Details: Canon 60mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 533 – Grassy Point – Indented Heads

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 533 26/12/2013 Grassy Point, Indented Heads

Conditions: Strong Southerlies

Visibilty: 7m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 60minutes

Max Depth: 4m

Details: About 2km off Grassy Point at Indented Heads is a couple of sticks marking shallow reef. This area had some nice sponge life but not a lot of fish life..a couple of rays and a flathead. Southerlies had picked up to about 25-30knots after i finished my dive making a very bumpy return to shore.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 532 – Whites Beach

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 532 23/12/2013 Whites Beach

Conditions:

Visibilty: 2m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 60minutes

Max Depth: 9m

Details: Ewwww…2m of dirty water, surge and 2-3m long camouflaged sharks lying in every crevice. A good lesson in bouyancy control! Luckily no Wobbegongs were mistaken as a camera rest on this dive.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 531 – The Vortex

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 531 22/12/2013 The Vortex

Conditions:

Visibilty: 8m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 35minutes

Max Depth: 20m

Details: Sometimes the ocean scares me…probably a healthy thing, but this was one of those dives. I sounded up a new site off 13th Beach on a day where the swell was slightly up. It seemed reasonably innocent and well-behaved on the surface but under the water was a different story. There seemed to be an even mixture of steady south-westerly and south-easterly swells moving through the area which, as a result, created surge that wasn’t just in one direction, but two. As that interacted with the reef rising from 20m to 15m, it created a truly bizaar dive experience. A washing machine at 20m!!! It was actually a pretty cool site, so perhaps i’ll try this again when conditions are better and hope it doesn’t live up to its name (The Vortex).

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 530 – Barwon Bluff Caves

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 530 19/12/2013 Barwon Bluff Caves

Conditions:

Visibilty: 10m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 60minutes

Max Depth: 10m

Details: This was a dive on dusk from the boat out off Barwon Bluff. The area was scatter with caves and swimthroughs and the light underwater was just magic. It was one of those days where the sea was flat with no wind only the sunset skimming across the surface.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 529 – Chimney Rock

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 529 19/12/2013 Chimney Rock

Conditions:

Visibilty: 7m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 45minutes

Max Depth: 23m

Details: A fairly dark and gloomy dive at Chimney Rock with Chris and Jarrod.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 528 – Seals at Chinamans Hat

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 525 08/12/2013 Chinamans Hat, Port Phillip Bay

Conditions:

Visibilty: 8m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 30minutes

Max Depth: 6m

Details: After diving Blairgowrie for a macro dive, i switched to wide angle and dropped in on the Seals at Chinamans Hat. They just weren’t that playful today, and vis was ordinary, so i kept the dive short.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 527 – Blairgowrie Pier

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 527 15/12/2013 Blairgowrie Pier

Conditions:

Visibilty: 8m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 70minutes

Max Depth: 6m

Details:

Camera Details: Canon 60mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos: A nice dive as always at Blairgowrie. On the way over i stopped at Popes Eye to photograph some Gannets in flight.

Dive 526 – St Leonards Pier

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 526 12/12/2013 St Leonards Pier

Conditions:

Visibilty: 4m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 50minutes

Max Depth: 3m

Details: Just a quick dive at St Leonards to test some of Sophies new gear. A brittle star was the only subject i managed to photograph.

Camera Details: Canon 60mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 525 – The Ampitheatre

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 525 08/12/2013 The Ampitheatre

Conditions:

Visibilty: 7m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 50minutes

Max Depth: 6m

Details: After a free dive at the Bluff with Chris, Kerry and Sophie, i went to check out the Ampitheatre. A catshark was the best subject and an interesting sighting of the uncommmon Banded Morwong.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 524 – The Labyrinth

By pfuller

Dec

Dive Number: 524 08/12/2013 The Labyrinth

Conditions:

Visibilty: 10m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 50minutes

Max Depth: 23m

Details: Went out to the Labyrinth with Chris where he had a close encounter with a large Smooth Ray that passed inches above his head. A great photo opp for Chris!

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos: