This weekend we decided to stay snorkelling at Ricketts Point mostly. As always, the best laid plans, didn’t quite go the way we hoped. On the Saturday we decided to swim from the Scout Hut at Table Rock, thinking the water might be clearer (it had been very windy the last few days). It wasn’t. It was quite murky … meanwhile, Ricketts Point was clear! In the afternoon we snorkelled at fossil beach in the shallows, then Saturday returned to Ricketts for a pre-dawn swim the next day. This is a great time of day to head out. The light is magical just as the sun rises. Here are some of the weekend highlights.
You begin to see why these parks are so important. Without these, there would be no safe refuge for any of the bay’s fish to grow in size and abundance. It is somewhat ironic, therefore, that we allow fishing literally up to and including the park boundaries. We’re beginning to see something about what the whole of the northern bay would have been like back in the 1950s before all the large fish were speared into oblivion.
Saturday AM, Table Rock
For the most part this was a very murky swim but something always happens when you least expect it. Table Rock isn’t a bad spot to see Eagle Rays. These are one of the most graceful and harmless big animals we have in the bay. Towards the end of the snorkel we stumbled across snapper feeding on a dead fish when this guy came in to finish off the scraps. The image is pretty ordinary as you can see, there is a lot of muck in the water.
Saturday PM, Fossil Beach
While my partner looked for fossils I decided to potter around in the shallows. This has turned out to be a very reliable spot for Painted Dragonet. There are only a couple of species of these sand-dwelling fish and this is the commonest. They stand on their fins and move in a slight jerky motion along the seafloor. Their colouration is very varied and the most beautiful one I saw was almost pure white. Usually they have a dark reddish head or they are adorned in an ornate pattern including patches of bright turquoise. They can change colour quite quickly too.
Sunday AM, Teahouse Reef, Ricketts Point
Up at 5AM, breakfasted and at the carpark by 5:45. We were in the water for over two hours! There were a lot of clingfish around today (see my recent post) throughout the sea lettuce and seagrass. A few Prickly Toadfish were still about by the time the sun rose but the best moment was when a huge group of Zebra Fish circled us. Later on the same thing happened with about 100 snapper. Such a beautiful time to take photos!
[/vc_column_text]
Sunday PM, Fossil Beach
A 37 degree day and we just had to get in the water. The temperature in the shallows topped 26 degrees in the water! The reason we swam here in the afternoon was it’s sheltered from the forecast strong northerlies (though by the time we got out, sea breezes had shifted the wind southerly).
The huge resident stingray did a fly past at one point. Sadly, it was trailing fishing line and lures. How sad. I swum out wide towards the drop off and was buzzed by a big school of Skipjack Trevally, which was quite unexpected. Meanwhile, we found three seahorses basking in the shallows. A great way to finish what was a rewarding weekend of snorkelling.
Why so many fish Snorkelling at Ricketts Point?
Two reasons. First, Ricketts Point has been protected now for nearly 20 years. The only reason recovery has been so slow, is because fishing constantly gnaws at the edges. The park is not very well protected. The second reason is that in summer, there is a change in the oceanographyThe study of the physical, chemical and biological properties of the ocean. More of Port Phillip Bay. About now, after the spring rains cease and winds prevail from the south, all the nutrientsEnergy and nutrients are the same thing. Plants capture energy from the Sun and store it in chemicals, via the process of photosynthesis. The excess greenery and waste that plants create, contain chemicals that animals can eat, in order to build their own bodies and reproduce. When a chemical is used this way, we call it a nutrient. As we More get deposited over the shallow reef systems.
This makes Ricketts Point incredibly important. If there wasn’t this refuge for fish, there would be little potential for recreational fishing. In truth, it’s not enough. We need more areas like this. Just a glimpse of what I saw this morning is enough to prove the value and why we should be doing a lot more to protect this unique asset so close to Melbourne.
