HEAVENLY HUTCHINSON

Hutchinson Shoal is a large rocky reef system off Moreton Island and one of the most exciting dive sites off Brisbane . To dive Hutchinson Shoal you need a combination of factors to come together; a group of experienced divers, a dive operator willing to take you there and perfect weather with little swell or current. Fortunately for us, all these factors aligned on a recent trip on Big Cat Reality.
    Boarding Big Cat Reality on Friday night the weather was looking perfect for a weekend of diving the Moreton Bay Marine Park – light winds and no swell. We selecting a bunk bed, Big Cat Reality has two large air-condition cabins that sleep twelve in each, and met our fellow divers, a group of locals and a group from Melbourne. After the boat briefing from skipper Peter and dive supervisor James, the ropes were cast off and we were underway.
    Saturday morning we woke to barely a ripple on the surface and we were soon at our first dive site called Middle Mountain . This rocky reef rises from 27m to 14m and was a lovely way to start the day with 30m visibility and 25ºC water temperature. There were caves and gutters to investigate, coloured by soft corals and black corals, but not many large fish about, just a few blue gropers to kept us entertained.
    With the perfect conditions, and breakfast out of the way, skipper Peter headed straight for Hutchinson Shoal to a spot called Breanna’s Balcony. With the bottom visible 30m below, Peter and deckhand Frosty couldn’t resist a quick dive to ‘checkout the conditions’. We watched from above and could clearly see both of them on the bottom, with the stickers on Frosty’s tank almost readable.
    We quickly geared up and jumped into the bath like conditions. Below us was a checkerboard of rocks in depths from 22m to 36m. We followed guide Laurie on a circuit around the reef to see the best black coral trees, gorgonians and swim throughs. With no current there weren’t any pelagic fish about, but there were still plenty of reef fish, crayfish, batfish and schools of snapper and surgeonfish.
    Peter then moved Big Cat Reality to another site on Hutchinson Shoal called Charlie’s Chapel. We then did a brilliant dive on a broken rocky bottom in depths from 10m to 22m. There were dozens of caves and swim throughs to explore – each lined with gorgonians, sea whips, tubastra corals and black coral trees. We spent almost an hour in this maze and in the process encountered turtles, eagle rays, batfish, blue spotted stingrays, moray eels, sweetlips, crayfish and a slipper cray sitting out in the open. An unexpected highlight came at the end of the dive when we found a 2m long tawny nurse shark resting in a hole. This was only the second tawny nurse shark we had seen off Brisbane in twenty years!
    After a filling lunch, the food never stops coming on a Big Cat Reality trip, Peter moved the boat to another spot on Hutchinson Shoal. Peter later informed us they have over a dozen different dive sites on Hutchinson Shoal, as the reef system is that big. Our afternoon dive was to be on a site called Triple J, or Jorgie’s Jagged Jungle. This ridge of rock varied in depth from 12m to 26m and again had plenty of caves and swim throughs to investigate. During the dive we saw batfish, turtles, lionfish, crayfish and a good variety of reef fish. This site also had an extraordinary number of lost anchors dotting the reef, but the biggest was an admiralty anchor.
    This huge anchor was originally discovered by one of Big Cat Reality’s most regular divers, Mary ‘Mermaid’ Simmonds, who was actually onboard for her 52^nd trip. Mary had earlier told us about the discovery of the anchor in September 2004, when she and a dive buddy had followed a stingray over the bottom and stumbled across it. This anchor is an impressive sight; over 3m long and standing up proud off the bottom. The history of this anchor is unknown and until the ship that lost it can be identified it is known as the Queen Mary Anchor!
    Our final dives of the day were back on Flinders Reef. The Melbourne divers were keen to see turtles and there are always plenty of them at Flinders. The visibility was only 20m, but we still had an enjoyable dive seeing wobbegongs, mantis shrimps, moray eels and turtles. The keen divers then did a night dive, but having already done five dives we relaxed and enjoyed the sunset and a barbeque dinner.
    The next morning the seas were still calm, but northerly winds had pushed in green water. Our first dive was at Gotham City , one of Brisbane ’s most spectacular dive sites, a massive rock monolith rising from 38m to 22m. The visibility was still 20m on the bottom and with a current running plenty of action – eagle rays and schools of trevally and sweetlip. Cementco was our next dive, this 67m long hopper barge is always an interesting dive, but with the green water we concentrated on macro subjects – nudies, sea stars, snake stars and small reef fish. Our last two dives of a wonderful weekend were back at Flinders Reef with more turtles, coral and reef fish. But the dives ended on a high when another tawny nurse shark was found. Two tawny nurse in two days, amazing after a twenty year absence.
    Big Cat Reality offers one of the best weekend dive trips in Australia – great diving, great crew, great food and great memories.

Article appeared in Dive Log No.2273 April 2011

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