Thursday 16 July 2015

Dive time!

Today I went for a short scuba dive with the 'Feet First' dive centre in Nelson Bay. Got up at 6.30(am) and trundled on down to the shop - where we donned suits and prepared our gear, before heading off to Fly Point.

Fly Point is an aquatic reserve - strictly no fishing or collecting from the area. It is TEEMING with interesting fish and little beasties to have a look at and is very easy to access. The only thing that you really have to think about is tide times - because the bay has a very narrow opening into the open ocean, the currents created by the tidal water rushing in and out of the bay can be very strong.

It had been a little while since I have been scuba diving and my buoyancy control was a little iffy to begin with, so I was a little ridiculous and bobbing up and down for a few minutes - but I think I regained control fairly fast without too much embarrassment (hopefully). I am considering starting my next dive qualification while i'm out here. There's not much chance of me doing that at home over the winter for sure! The water temperature was around 17-18ÂșC here today so not too cold (although my feet did get a little chilly - I might invest in some decent neoprene socks!).

Some pictures from the dive:

Not the best picture in the world, but this was one of the
many nudibranchs we saw
 
These crazy-looking things are Gulf wobbegong (Orectolobus
halei
) which is a species of carpet shark. The individual
in the top picture must have been nearly 2m long!

Awesome fish and giant sponge (not their official names)

I think this tiny cuboid fish is a Yellow boxfish (Ostracion
cubicus
).. but I could be very wrong about that..

CUTTLEFISH!!!!!! I love them. They're adorable. This
species is the Mourning cuttlefish (Sepia plangon)

Some kind of eel

I believe this is a South australian catfish (Cnidoglanis
macrocephalus
)

I believe this is an Eastern blue groper (Achoerodus viridis)

There were just so many fish everywhere!



3 comments:

  1. Hahaha on my phone I tried to identify your Gulf Wobbegong on the picture, staring at the orange stuff, until I read "top picture he is 2 metre long" and figured out I was staring at the wrong stuff ;-) but you should A. definitely invest in neoprene socks is your feet respond to cold the same as your hands do and B. definitely start the next diving qualification! I'm jealous of your explorations of the under water world!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha - well I didn't actually see that one until I was almost on top of it! Gave me a bit of a shock!

    I think I probably will invest in some nice warm socks :)

    ReplyDelete