Hi everyone, sorry I have not posted for a while. After I went for some minor nasal surgery (nothing drastic) but it has put me out of action for the last few weeks. Today was my first attempt getting back into the water with a Blairgowrie Pier snorkel. Pinching my nose to equalise turned out not to be too difficult. Thankfully it won’t stop me swimming over Christmas! As the weather forecast for next week looks crazy good. Just putting this picture up (below) reminds me how lucky we are to live in one of the best places in the world for snorkelling.
Sat 21 December, morning
Today we ventured to Blairgowrie as the winds were forecast to be from the south, which made this location the ideal place to hide from the weather. And while it was a bit overcast in the morning, the skies cleared and it became a beautiful day. So, the first swim was so good, we decided to do it all again at night. The highlight were several Crowned Nudibranchs (the ones pictured below with the yellow spikes and black gills and antennae). I’d not seen this before … not it seems have most local divers. It’s remarkable how some species can be quite rare and just appear in abundance now and again.
This species is a native of South Africa and is thought to have reached Australia in the bilge water from vessels arriving in New South Wales. Although, it is not considered to have caused any lasting damage.
Sat 21 December, night
It was such a good swim in the morning that we decided to return that night. With the tide forecast to be low, it would be ideal, but it wasn’t getting fully dark until 9:15PM. So we entered the water at 8:45PM and didn’t get out until 10:45!
It was an amazing night and the highlight had to be a big Wobbegong that swam past. Unfortunately it was too sudden and quick to get a photo. But the other real treat was a Slender Mantis Shrimp, which aren’t often seen in Port Phillip Bay. This frantic individual was moving very fast.
Other highlights of our Blairgowrie Pier snorkel were Bobtail Squid, a very obliging Shorthead Worm Eel, some Conger Eels, cone shells out feeding and some nice nudibranchs. The water temperature was quite warm (about 20 degrees) but the visibility at night was a bit poor compared to the day time. When we got out, it was pretty chilly as there was a bit of a bracing southerly wind. It didn’t affect the conditions under the pier but there was a bit of current that made it quite hard to take photos.
