Another lovely weekend swimming snorkelling Ricketts Point Beaumaris and surrounds.
Saturday’s morning forecast was a little windier than expected. It made for a turbulent swim at Quiet Corner in Ricketts Point Marine park. But it was quite fun watching the shoals of Zebrafish clinging together beneath the crashing waves.
The seagrass was being blown back and forth too, revealing the Widebody Pipefish and a few clingfish attached to their fronds. We were a bit exhausted by the end of it. A highlight was a lovely little nudibranch called Goniobranchus epicurius. It was clinging to the pink sponge, which is a favoured hiding place for these and another pink form we often see. A helmetshield slug was also a fun find. They are always terribly hard to photograph though. The last time we saw it, it was head down burying itself in the sand, with only the back end visible.
Saturday afternoon I snorkelled at the fossil beach at Beaumaris and my partner looked for fossils. She hit the jackpot. After maybe 100 hours of swimming, she found a haul of rare teeth belonging to a prehistoric shark called the ‘Giant Mako’ (Cosmopolitodus hastalis). According to the museum this is one of the biggest ever found … about 78mm. Which would make this perhaps an 8m shark.
Sunday morning I headed to Ricketts Point off Teahouse. This time the water was a bit murky and I stuck around for a couple of hours. If you float in one spot for a while, the curious snapper come in and soon, there are fish all around. At one spot there was a small tight-knit group of leatherjackets (horseshoe and six-spined) which didn’t seem too bothered when I dropped down to photograph them.
Top tip. Hand upside down to take photos. The fish don’t associate your shape with a threat and you can get a lot closer.
I love the flatheads. They are barely noticeable and almost seem to creep up on your when you least expect!
I’ve yet to have anything more than a fly-past encounter with a Southern Eagle-ray. But there are lots about at the moment. One huge individual swam past me at Ricketts Point. At the fossil beach I was buzzed several times, but usually, by the time I notice them they’ve passed. The light’s not always great for photos either. But I’ve included a shot here as they really are one of the most beautiful animals we have in the bay.
