THE GRAVEYARD/CHARLOTTES REEF – 23rd MARCH 2013

March and April are the best times to dive the mid north coast. The weather and the waters are still warm and seas are settled which means optimum visibility. Six members of the Great Lakes Underwater Group (GLUG) left the jetty with the sun shining and the bar reasonably calm.
At The Graveyard site each took a giant stride off the boat into clear warm water. Peter Trood, Heather Armour and Janne and Tony Moran, to perform transects for two areas whilst Anita and Greg Toland were to do Spot a Shark monitoring using cameras with laser beams. The tapes were to a rock and ran the obligatory 25 metres in a straight line, then the divers slowly swam back along to monitor for marine debris. An old anchor with a chain was found on the first transect but nothing in the opposite direction so random searches were commenced. Later a fishing rod and a fishing lure was found amongst the kelp. Also spotted were a large numb ray and a Port Jackson Shark but no grey nurse sharks. Total dive time was 46 minutes with a maximum depth of 17.8 metres.

tony laying the transect line at Graveyards
After a surface interval the boat motored over to the second site, Charlottes Reef just off Shelly Beach. The water was shallower this dive so a slight current was evident and the visibility was down. Again transects were taken with no marine debris found. After a short time however near the rocks fishing line, sinkers, hooks, rope and plastic netting were retrieved as well as a surfboard fin. A large anchor with chain was sighted but could not be retrieved so several photographs were taken. Several house bricks were also sighted. Three more numb rays were lying amongst the rocks. Total dive time was 52 minutes with a maximum depth of 9.8 metres. Water temperature was 21 degrees.

mating numb-rays. HEATHER ARMOUR

The Baitgrounds - 24th January 2013

With awful conditions on the last GLUG dive, we were all glad to see the water clear up at last.  Anita, Tony and I decided to checkout the Baitgrounds and after some minor (some might say major!) technical hitches, we were pleasantly surprised by relatively clear, warm water (variable 10m viz, 22deg).  We completed 4x25m transects in quick time on account of there being no debris to collect!  The rest of the dive was spent meandering around the inner reef, searching for random marine debris and endangered species.  This near-shore reef system is comprised on a number of kelp-covered, elongate reefs that run E-W, surrounded by sand.  We were surprised that, given the water temperature, we did not see any grey nurse sharks.  This is normally a popular location with nurses.  Neither did we see any turtles.  Only a large wobbegong and an eagle ray; and lots of brightly coloured juvenile girdled parma, moon wrasse and Gunthers butterfly fish.  A pleasant morning was had by all, but we all resolved to revisit the site again soon to check on those sharks!

24th November 2012 The Barge/ Baitgrounds

Fog on the ground in the early morning was a good sign for the day ahead. Dead flat seas made for a smooth ride out to The Barge and ideal conditions to spot dolphins swimming about enjoying themselves. Descending down the anchor was initially murky but on the seabed the entire barge was visible plus the reef next to it. The Barge was a garbage barge that was sunk deliberately as a dive site. As soon as we reached the anchor a two metre male grey nurse cruised by for a photo opportunity. Another male measuring 2.5 metres also swam passed for our camera. We peered down holes in the barge and performed roaming marine debris surveys. Two stubby beer bottles were found, one was retrieved however the other was inhabited and left behind. Also sighted were red morwong, jewfish, eastern hula fish, maori wrasse, beardies, sweep, yellowtail scad, traglin, pike, crested morwong, blue grouper, mado, balling catfish, brown catfish, white faced pullers, crimson banded wrasse, yellow catfish, old wives, orange seastars, girdled scalyfin and bullseyes. Maximum depth was 28 metres with a water temperature of 20 degrees. After a surface interval we headed over to The Baitgrounds. This dive we were able to perform roaming marine debris surveys in straight lines of 25 metres, as the reef was small and surrounded by sand. We soon found a fishing line with two hooks and a sin

ker (recovered), a sand anchor complete with rope (recovered) and netting with cabling and rope wedged in the rocks, therefore unable to be recovered however photographic evidence was taken. Two female grey nurses (1.3m and 1.7m) was sighted as well as a juvenile hawksbill turtle, sweep, mado, red morwong, yellowtail scad, balling catfish, old wives, jewfish, eastern hula fish, pike, white faced pullers, girdled scalyfin, maori wrasse, crimson banded wrasse, hawk fish, blue cleaner wrasse, blue grouper, blue damsels, bullseyes, cardinal fish, trumpeters, kelpfish, senator wrasse, Gunters butterfly fish, blue lined kale, eastern smooth boxfish, hard skinned boxfish, numbray, fiddler rays, wobbygong, a school of squid, a port Jackson shark and a port Jackson shark egg case. Maximum depth was 11 metres. GLUG Members Present – Anita Toland, Greg Toland, Janne Moran, Tony Moran, Rachel Dodd and Heather Armour.

Marine Discovery Series

Blackhead - 20th October 2012

We set out from Forster marina at 8am through rolling seas, enjoying the company of whales and their calves all the way to Snapper Reef, about 45 minutes north of Forster. The morning was warm and sunny, with a blustery Nor-wester blowing strongly by the time we entered the water at 9:30am. Although we passed wracks of red-weed on our journey, the water was pleasantly clear, with around 10-15m visibility. Anchoring in barren reef at 16m, we proceeded with our marine debris surveys, finding a reel directly next to the anchor. Our search also turned up two complete fishing rods, only one of which was recovered. We finished our transects and exited the water, loot in hand. John then jumped in and found another couple of rods. The highlight were the large and inquisitive blue gropers, occasional corals and pretty seastars.

Left:Rachel and Heather set out the transect line. The wind had strengthened during our dive, now whipping the sea into white-caps. We headed south and surveyed a reef off Redhead, known as The Ridge. Slightly shallower, this undulating reef had more interesting benthic life, with gorgonian corals, sea tulips, zooanthids and large sponges. No debris to be had (always a good sign!), and not much fish-life to mention, but the whales were peeping and the underwater colours were beautiful. A bit chillier than the first dive, at 17deg, and enjoyed by all, except Zack, who was not feeling too good by this stage. Our trip back to Forster was the highlight of the day, with a spectacular aerial display by a baby humpback while his mum cruised by, less than 100m from the boat. The hot westerly wind had the mercury pushing 40deg by 1pm, our second heat wave day this spring! Thanks to John and Zack, from Action Divers, for a very enjoyable morning.

Combating Marine Debris Seven members of GLUG (Great Lakes Underwater Group) spent Friday 28th September cleaning up the Tuncurry break wall from the Rock Pool to under Forster Bridge. The group had a bag each but this was soon filled with lots of debris ranging from fishing tackle, line, rods and lures, to chairs, plastic pipe, bottles and even a mobile phone. The group carries out this clean-up twice yearly and were very disappointed to the huge amount of man-made debris that finds its way into our magnificent waterway. There was debris from the recreational fishermen as well as a lot of pipe, rope and long line gear from the fishing fleet located along the edge. Generally, people are becoming much more aware of the need to preserve our water ways for our future generations. There are still a few who don’t seem to care. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there and that it doesn’t have a huge impact on the environment. It does and time will only tell how much. Anita Toland

Little Seal & Skeleton Rocks

16-09-2012 Members of GLUG present:- Isabelle Strachan, John Connolly, Greg and Anita Toland After a week of good weather and westerly winds blowing at Forster the group was hoping to have relatively good dive conditions. We were picked up from Boat Harbour at Seal Rocks just after 9am. The trip out with Nick was a bit rough once we passed the protection of Sugarloaf Point with a roll coming in from the South. Our first dive was a Little Seals. We anchored on the western side near the whitewash. When we descended the anchor line there was a 2.5m female GNS right in front of us. We managed to take a few photos but alas the visibility was very poor and we didn’t manage to capture any of its markings. We laid out the transects in a North South alignment and only found an old listening device rod which was successfully retrieved. We were actually surprised to see so many good size drummer and bream and snapper cruising around the rock. There were heaps of wrasse and the usual bullseyes and heaps of one spot pullers. The fish seem to be building up in numbers very quickly as a result of Little Seals being in the marine park. The best part of the dive was the magnificent whale song which accompanied us the entire dive. We managed to stay in for 35 minutes before we retreated to the boat for a hot soup as the water was a chilly 16 degrees. After a move to Skeleton Rock and a change of tanks we were back into the cold conditions. Again the visibility was very poor with heaps of plankton in the water. We carried out our four 25m marine debris surveys at a depth of 10 and 15 metres. We found nothing along the transect lines or on our roaming search. We managed to circumnavigate the bommie and were treated with the sighting of the resident large loggerhead turtle. Anita Toland