The Barge / Latitude 6th April 2013

A week of dirty water at Seals forced us to dive off Forster. At the top of the tide, The Barge was chosen for it's resident shark population. Seven GLUG divers entered what appeared to be clear water. At about 20m, the visibility declined, and sharks abounded. Greg and Anita went in search of the perfect shark shot, Anita enjoyed the company of about 8 sharks circling her so closely, she could have stroked them. The rest of us laid 25m tapes and searched for debris. Heather found a stainless steel cable - the remains of a large portion of net that was recovered two years ago. A whopper wobbegong hid below the wreck, waiting in hiding to strike the next likely prey...or divers hand, which ever took it's fancy first! Luckily, no wobbegong attacks this time around. The grey nurses were skittish, and tails could be heard cracking all through the dive. At 23deg, 28m and 30min bottom time, this dive was well worth the effort, despite the poor visibility on the bottom. After a good dive interval, we dropped in at outer Latitude Reef. Marine debris surveys turned up fishing line and hooks, but the roaming search found lots more - including a couple of large anchors and length of heavy gauge chain which were too big to recover. The water was dirty here, around 5m visibility, but a lovely dive with plenty of fish life, a gorgeous little green turtle and loads of wobbegongs lurking in the kelp. At 18m, 40minutes bottom time was more than enough. A great day had by all.