I last dived
However, over the last few years I started to hear rumours of a new dive site in
In early 2009 I was able to get down to
Blairgowrie Pier is located on the
My first dive at Blairgowrie Pier, with Margaret and Theo, was superb, even though conditions were less than perfect; it was cold, wet and windy. But I will describe the second dive I did at the pier, as it was unforgettable.
On this second dive at Blairgowrie Pier, Margaret, AJ and Michael joined me. After gearing up at the car park, that is perched above the site, it was a short walk down a set of stairs and onto the pier. It was a lovely warm March day and the water looked clear and very inviting as we strolled along the pier, we could even see large spider crabs on the sand below. We proceeded to a lower boat-landing platform, where there are several ladders that allow an easy exit from the water. A quick buddy check and we dropped into the water, ready to explore this southern wonderland.
The first thing that impressed me about Blairgowrie Pier were the pylons, each one is completely covered in sponges, ascidians, kelp, algae, scallops and tube worms – the colours just incredible. With 10m visibility I would have loved to get some wide-angle shots of these colourful pylons, but I had a macro lens on my camera as I was after critters.
I settled on the sand
y bottom, only 3m deep here, and started to search the
first pylon for subjects, within seconds spotting a lovely big-bellied seahorse
clinging to a sponge. Big-bellied seahorses are very common at Blairgowrie over
the warmer months, and I found a dozen without really searching for them. After
a few photos of this wonderful seahorse I then moved on to photograph a
short-tailed ceratosoma nudibranch that was crawling over the sand.I then focused on a few of the sea stars, southern sea stars and magnificent sea stars; both these species of biscuit stars are seen in large numbers on every pylon and also on the sand. These sea stars come in a range of colours and I could easily have shot several hundred images trying to capture every colour variation. Also very common were eleven-arm sea stars, these large sea stars were everywhere.
I then found two more seahorses to photograph, but quickly forget them when I saw that AJ had found a small southern keeled octopus. This cute octopus is endemic to southern
The fish community that lives around the pier is quite impressive. Reef fish dart around the pylons, including species of leatherjackets, wrasse, triple fins, blennies, scorpionfish and globefish. On the sand were also flatheads and goatfish, and as we moved from pylon to pylon we also encountered schools of yellowtail, silver trevally and even a kingfish.
A rare endemic fish I was hoping to see at Blairgowrie Pier was the tasselled anglerfish, one of the most spectacular members of this amazing fish family. The only problem is that this fish is so well camouflaged that you could swim past a dozen and not see them. Well it must have been my lucky day as only ten minutes into the dive I stumbled across a wonderful tasselled anglerfish.
Looking just like the growth around it, the only thing that gave it away was its eye. This fish was 15cm long and one of the most bizarre fish I have ever seen. I shot dozens of images and just spent some time just watching it.
Continuing along, more seahorses, crabs, shrimps, reef fish and especially nudibranchs. I saw several dozen nudibranchs, representing several different species and the guys from SWAMP informed me that it was the best place in
While most of the life is on and around the pylons, I would occasionally head over the sand beside the pier, which lead me to find several dragonets and a pipefish, which looked more like a stick than a fish.
One of the most common species on the pylons are rock pool shrimps. Now I am use to shrimps being camera shy, but these little fellows would come out to investigate you. At one point I tapped my finger on a sponge in front of a shrimp and it came over to gently nip my finger.
After an hour underwater we had only travelled 60m, but reached the T shaped section of the pier. The section of pier to the right is only 10m long, so turning left gave us another 100m of pier to explore in 6m of water. This was a good choice as I quickly found several more seahorses, a spotted stingaree covered in a thin layer of sand and a large spider crab. These spider crabs are fun to watch as they slowly walk across the bottom on tippee-toes with their claws held high or wide. They look like some alien robot from ‘War of the Worlds’.
The pylons here seem to be home to lots of fish, including some colourful splendid perch, pygmy leatherjackets and numerous globefish. But I was delighted to find several juvenile Shaw’s cowfish. These are one of the cutest fish in the southern waters of
Another spotted stingaree got my attention and as I got closer to this small ray I noticed a tiny southern blue-ringed octopus moving across some shell rubble. I shot several images of this highly venomous octopus as it strolled over the bottom, at one point crossing over the stingaree.
After another twenty minutes we
still hadn’t reached the end of the pier, but with
80 bar left in the tank it was the designated turn around point. It took another
twenty minutes to return to the exit point, stopping along the way to photograph
and observe the countless critters that reside under this amazing pier.Speaking to the SWAMP guys after this incredible dive, they casually informed me it was just another average dive at Blairgowrie Pier. They then informed me of the other species that have regularly seen under the pier, the list included huge smooth stingrays, southern fiddler rays, angel sharks, dumpling squid, cuttlefish, giant Maori octopus and many other unique southern Australian critters.
We jumped in just as the sun was setting and I settled on the bottom to find two beady eyes and a jagged grin staring back at me from the sand, the unmistakable face of an eastern stargazer. I hadn’t seen a stargazer in years, so gently dug it out of the sand for a closer look. This incredible fish was 60cm long and all muscle, in a flash, with a few quick shuffles; it had reburied itself into the sand to await unsuspecting prey.
Each dive I did at Blairgowrie Pier I experienced this cross current, and the SWAMP divers informed me that there is nearly always a current, but it varies in strength. I think this is one of the secrets to the riches at Blairgowrie; this current brings food and nutrients to the thriving marine life that lives under the pier.
Blairgowrie Pier is an active marina and popular fishing spot, so divers should be mindful of this and respect the other users of the pier. I dived the pier in March, which is one of the best times of the year to dive in
Of course there is more to
After three dives at Blairgowrie Pier I had seen and captured images of many unique Aussie critters, and I hadn’t even explored the entire pier! I know it will not be long before I head south again to explore this Melbourne muck site, as it is one the best dive sites in Australia, and not a secret anymore.