My most recent visit to the HMAS Brisbane was in August, just days after the third anniversary of her sinking on July 31. It had been almost two years si
nce
my last visit, so I was very keen to see how much the ship had changed.Winter brings great diving conditions on the HMAS Brisbane and this day was no exception; light winds, a small swell, clear and sunny, though a little cool. I arrived at Sunreef Diving Services, one of the three dive operators at Mooloolaba that run daily trips to the old warship, just after 7am. After sorting out gear, we were on their bus for the short trip down to the dive boat.
Sunreef run one of best dive boats in Queensland, 2 Ezy is an 11m catamaran style Kevlacat that is well suited for local diving. She has well set-up tank racks and seating, a toilet on board and clear side canopies, which are much appreciated on cool days. From leaving the jetty it takes 20 minutes to reach the site of the HMAS Brisbane, hardly enough time for the dive brief.
I buddied up with local diver Rob
Juster,
who was shooting video. Once in the water we found the visibility to be 15m to
20m and the water a chilly 18C degrees, about as cold as it gets in Queensland.
We descended at midships and then headed towards the stern.The biggest change I noticed straight away was all the colourful sponges and soft corals that now encrust the hull. These added amazing splashes of colour, reds, oranges and yellows, to handrails, walls, gun mounts and other structures. Even hard corals have started to grow on the hull; it will be interesting to see how these develop.
Once at the stern we found a large black blotched stingray hovering in mid-water. I captured a few images of this big ray before it glided away along the hull, only to be replaced by
a huge school of amberjacks that zoomed around us for a minute. Descending to
the sand at 27m we could see a large dark shape under the stern, a quite sizable
Queensland groper. Up to nine Queensland gropers now reside on the HMAS
Brisbane, but they do tend to be shy of divers. I was hoping this giant fish
would hang around, but before I could move in closer for some photos the groper
swam off into the blue.Rob and I then swam under the stern to see schools of stripey snapper, bream, red emperors and several large mulloway. The fish life the old destroyer attracts is astounding, not just large numbers, but a great variety of reef and pelagic species.
Back outside we continued along the port side of the ship, seeing tropical fish, anemones, ascidians, featherstars, molluscs and a surprising number of nudibranchs. Fish are everywhere, and at any one time I could look up to see kingfish, trevally, rabbitfish, yellowtail, surgeonfish, batfish and snapper.
At the bow the forward gun turret looks as impressive as ever, and is still the most popular photo stop. We entered the ship again at the missing bridge area to explore a few more rooms overflowing with cardinalfish, before ending our dive on the funnel, watching the fairy basslets and moon wrasse dart about.
For our second dive we headed straight to the bow, descending down the anchor chain, which is very colourful, to the sand at 27m. We then followed the anchor chain across the sand as the Queensland gropers sometimes hang out here. Unfortunately, the gropers were not to be seen, but we did see bream and a few toadfish half buried in the sand.
Back on the main deck we headed to the bridge area, where there is a profusion of wonderful soft corals. These corals make for great photos, and by the size of them you would think the ship has been down for twenty years, not three. We then slowly swam along the starboard side of the ship, checking out anemonefish in their anemones, shrimps, crabs, small crayfish and more nudies.
After exploring more of the interior we stumbled across a very large common lionfish, obviously feasting on the abundance of cardinalfish. We followed this colourful fish capturing video and photos until our computers told us it was time to head to shallower water. We again ended the dive on the funnel, a great place to do a safety stop, before returning to the boat.
I must say after three years underwater the HMAS Brisbane is getting better and better, and judging by the number of interstate and international visitors, the old warship is now one of Australia’s premier dive sites. The ship is not only fun and fascinating to explore, but is a magnet for marine life, covered with a kaleidoscope of colourful corals and sponges.