Blackhead, 13th April 2013

The excellent diving conditions continued as we head out for the fourth boat dive in the last week. Blackhead is not renowned for it's clear diving conditions, but today we can see the reef from the boat. With 8 divers on board, we have plenty of people to complete both Marine Debris surveys and a Reef Life Survey. This is my first RLS for over 12 months, and I am as rusty as the old pick anchor I tie the transect line off too. It is beautiful conditions, 22deg, 15m visibility, but hardly a fish to be seen, unless you count the scad, the parma and the mado...which Brian and I try in vein to do accurately. At 18m, this reef is remarkably repetitive. The lack of fish diversity is made up for by the corals, sponges and other benthic life. Snapper Rock has a variety of small plate and encrusting corals and unusual sponges, unlike anything we see in the south. Ascidians and sea stars, yellow nudibranchs and large wobbegongs hiding in the crevices make for an interesting dive. The debris crew recover a fair bit of fishing debris, as usual on this site, and JD brings up a nice reef anchor.
After a quick visit in at Wallabi Point, we head south to Redhead Gutters. Rachel and I do another RLS, while the others search for debris. This reef is shallower, at 11m, has sandy gutters, kelp covered reef and some overhangs. The fish life is again, fairly bland, apart from two very exciting species - two sub-adult black cod and one eastern devil fish hiding in the over-hangs. Masses of bulls eyes congregate in a small cave, and the other usual suspects cruise by in large numbers - scad, mado, and the girdled parma. I also see a very sweet Pseudoanthias squammipinnis. No debris was found on the transects, but a bundle of hooks and swivels were recovered by Heather. The water was 23deg, and we had a pleasant dive of 51 minutes. The water was more turbulent here, with about 7m visibility.