The weather forecast was for light winds turning southerly and strenghtening with rain in the late morning. So we decided on our first December snorkel at Blairgowrie for dawn. After a quick coffee and breakfast at The Kitchen in Tootgarook (opens by 6:30AM), we headed to the car park above the yacht squadron to nab a spot near the picnic tables (a handy place to decamp after, without getting covered in dirt). There was no-one else there when we arrived.
We began on the yacht club side in the seagrass near the jetty, then headed underneath to check around the pylons. There was a great selection of nudibranchs today including a couple of Pleurobranchs. Their egg cases were all over the place. I didn’t take photos of the commonest like Vercoe’s but found two I have not seen before. A single pipefish on the way out was nice, as well as a couple of fiddler rays. Pygmy squid and seahorses were notable by their absence. We usually see a few but none today.
All in all a nice swim and good start to the summer break. Water temperature 18 degrees.
