Bobtail squid in the night

 Macro, Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Jun 302015
 
Bobtail squid in the night

About the site Rye Pier is a long, shallow shore dive. The pier is probably most noted for the annual invasion of the spider crabs which I photographed in 2012. They’re in the area at the moment and have been spotted at Blairgowrie Pier recently. They’re now on the move and will likely be seen at Rye over the coming days. While we were hoping to see the start of the crab invasion on Sunday, it was a fairly slim possibility. It was nice to see the pier life before it gets overrun by crustaceans. The rest of the year, Rye is known for orange sponges and lots of pot bellied sea horse. About the dive We intended a Sunday afternoon [read more…]

Draughtboard Shark at Phillip Island

 Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Jun 162015
 
Draughtboard Shark at Phillip Island

I’m renovating my kitchen at the moment. Keen observation of other divers’ experiences of renovation tells me that renovating means not getting underwater for months at a time. I’m determined not to let my project about the house stop me from having fun. So after a productive day of pulling up tiles and with a forecast for Bass Strait of “light and variable winds”, Dad and I headed out of Phillip Island on Sunday. The light winds were a blessing and there was no surface chop. Unfortunately this also meant an absence of the northerly breezes which normally flatten out the swell. Despite a run of calm days a persistent one to two metre swell was showing no signs of [read more…]

Itchy turtles at Julian Rocks

 Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Jun 092015
 
Itchy turtles at Julian Rocks

While I did consider a return to the annual Combined Clubs Weekend in Bicheno this June, after the temperature started to drop at home a flight north to Brisbane looked a lot more tempting. In the end we were somewhat foiled by the weather anyway with dives on the wreck of the Brisbane cancelled for the weekend for high winds. On Sunday we drove down to Byron Bay for a splash at Julian Rocks instead. The Rocks are a marine reserve a very short distance off the beach in Byron Bay. After a beach launch we jumped on the Sundive boat for a 5 minute run out. Two minutes later I was underwater. Given the weather situation I left my [read more…]

Currents on the wreck of the Cambridge

 Ocean diving, rEvo, Wrecks  No Responses »
Jun 032015
 
Currents on the wreck of the Cambridge

  About the wreck The SS Cambridge went down in 1940 to a German mine laid by the Passat. She was the first Allied vessel to be lost in Australian waters during WWII. Of the 58 crew on board when the mine exploded, 57 survived and were picked up and taken ashore at Port Welshpool. The wreck sits upright in 67m on a sandy bottom. After Steve’s tales of limitless vis and huge props from a dive back in November, I was looking forward to an awesome dive on her as the highlight of a weekend diving around Wilson’s Prom. About the dive Our original intentions were to hit the wreck at about 9am for the morning slack water. The [read more…]