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.
