On the final weekend in May we also went to Flinders Pier, home of the otherworldly Weedy Seadragon. As well as these magnificent creatures, we were also treated to a massive school of trevally, an inquisitive giant cuttle, colourful cowfish and more. The challenge of Flinders is seeing beyond the weeds and spotting the marine life hiding in plain sight… The extra challenge is holding your camera still while the surge tries to push you all over the place!
dive vid
Rye Pier Dives
Having to play a little catch up on my dive videos 🙂 These shots were taken over two days in late May, at the ever entertaining Rye Pier. First up was a fun dive where we didn’t see a whole heap, second was a cleanup dive where everyone came to play! Crabs, stingarees, seahorses and more.
My highlight? First time seeing big jellyfish under water, the video doesn’t show it well but they danced and changed colours under the lights 💃🏼💃🏼
Not so good was seeing 3 dead banjo (fiddler) rays – one missing a tail – probably left to their demise by fisherman 😓 It was intriguing to see a seastar working on one the following day though.
Boarfish Reef Diving
On ANZAC day, we had plans to dive the HMAS Goorangai, a minesweeper that was used in conjunction with two others to sweep the shipping lanes approaching Port Phillip in 1940. The three vessels successfully located and destroyed forty mines over a fortnight period. Unfortunately HMAS Goorangai sank whilst doing a crossing, and lost all hands on board – the Goorangai is now a designated war grave. As the wreck is located in the shipping channel, it is only able to be dived when shipping has been halted – something that we had hoped for on ANZAC day, but alas it wasn’t to be.
Instead, we dived Boarfish Reef, a fantastic site amongst the Sponge Gardens, about halfway between Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale. On the day that we dived, it was almost an aquarium, with fab viz and curious fish almost sideswiping us as they swam around. Highlight for me was the blue devil showing off – first up in the video. And for those of my friends terrified of spiders, be sure to watch the last clip – not a great example of videography, but SPIDER! SEA SPIDER! SPIDERS exist underwater! 😱🕷😱
The other take-home from this dive for me? It is the second time I’ve dived Boarfish Reef – the first was on my Dive #4, as part of my Open Water course. My log entries for that day back in December versus the ANZAC day dive (#46!) are considerably different!
Rye Pier Diving
Rye Pier holds a special place in my heart – it’s where I took my first breath underwater in the ocean as part of my Open Water course, it’s where I returned to do part of my Advanced Open Water, and it’s been the host to many other magical dives.
This is the first time I’ve dived it in the daylight with my camera though, so welcome to Rye Pier! Highlight for sure was the rather large stingray – at the end it sweeps along directly underneath me. Slightly amusing because overseas we were chasing Mantas, attempting to catch even a glimpse, and here at Rye and the other piers, we’re often visited by these underwater giants!
Blairgowrie March of the Spider Crabs
After my travels, it probably comes as no surprise that after less than 18 hours back in the country, I was underwater once again!
This video was taken mid-April at Blairgowrie and features an underwater phenomenon I was hoping I wouldn’t miss out on – the March of the Spider Crabs. At about this time every year, thousands of giant Spider Crabs march en masse towards Blairgowrie and surrounds, prior to moulting their shells. No-one really knows why they come crawling into the shallows, but it is suspected to be a case of safety in numbers, as there are many predators that take advantage of the crabs when they’re in the process of growing a new shell.
As you can imagine, visibility isn’t great, with so so many crabs stirring up the sand and muck.
Despite the chilly conditions (a shock to the system going from 30°C to 17°C 😱), it’s great to be back diving in Melbourne with fabulous buddies and in my ‘old’ stomping grounds! Rugged conditions: need to get used to hauling my own gear again – overseas it was all carried for me, even placed on my back so I didn’t need to pick it up!