Spider Crabs at Rye

Spider Crabs at Rye Pier.
The annual Spider Crab migration in May each year is a must see for divers, very freaky when you see so many in the one place.  it is then interesting to watch the pier over the following months as the food created from die off, helps other fish and animals breed and grow rapidly.

Spider Crab Expeditions

Spider Crabs reside in Port Philip Bay, Victoria, Australia for 12 months of the year.

However, in April through to July each year, as the water cools, the crabs gather in the shallows in their tens of thousands! This aggregation is continuously “on the move” and has been referred to as the “March of The Spider Crabs”.

This amazing natural phenomenon is believed to be linked to a mating ritual. Through out this time period the crabs gather and play “stacks on the middle”. The mountains of crabs can be up to 2 metres high and cover areas up to a kilometre long.

Through out the cycle the crabs often moult their shell and at times mass “die offs” of Spider Crabs can be seen. The Spider Crab march is an amazing visual experience and resembles scenes from a science fiction film. The gathering also attracts predators such as sting rays and even sharks.

Rye

Rye,
One of the easiest and nicer pier dives, Simply park in the carpark , kit up and walk off the pier. forget anything see AOS across the road. what is there will vary according to the season , but usally something of interest, todays dive was seals and seahorses.

Ricketts At Night

A night dive at Ricketts on a very nice calm night.
Despite my view that Ricketts at low tide is undiveable , on a nice calm night it provided a very nice muck dive.
Instead of heading out to the green pole we went right using the boat channel for additional depth, Vis was a good 20 meters with no surge, so it was all about the fish.

Cavern Deep Training

Caven Diving  - Mt Gambier

Deep and Caven Course , because everyone who dives sometimes just has to figure out if cave are really interesting.   A great course for skills and developing a better understanding of dive techniques including trying out some caverns, but ultimately after a successful completion decided it was not for me. But a very enjoyable couple of weekends.

Thanks Andy Higgins for a great experience.

Flinders

Flinders Pier , another great dive at this awesome spot. Still one of the best and apart from a longish walk from the car to landing it is one of the easier.  high or incoming tide preferred.  The rays were out to play today and the sea dragons didn't disappoint with a number of babies spotted toward the end of the pier.

Blairgowrie Pier

Blairgowrie Pier is an excellent pier dive inside the bay, generally reasonably calm due to the marina but it can also lose visabillity if there is a current running due to the silty bottom. but can be the best bet on the inside if others are a lost cause.

To access, park at the carpark above the marina (just past the marina driveway toward portsea) and then either do a shore entry via the stairs at the front of the carpark or a pier entry via the stairs on the city/roadside  of the  car park . As this is a marina which can be busy with boats it is highly advised to stay under the two main parts of the marina (ie the main outward pier and the top finger at the end of the marina) which is where the best stuff is anyway.

Many different creatures and plant life can be found and night time diving is also varied and quite safe.

Blairgowrie google map

Ricketts Point

 Ricketts Point
a lovely city beach dive, great for after work or on a nice weekend day.
use the car park o nthe city side of the tea house.
entry is via a shallow beach so you will walk out a reasonable distance
High tide is the best, and low will be undivable.
go out right past the rocks seen on the left and then follow the small wall around toward the green pole.

Flinders jj 100th

A day of westerlies found us at Flinders , being the best place when the wind is up and the conditions are rough inside the bay.

JJ a new club member recently from Portugal was having his first Australian dive and 100th overall.

Diving today was Lyn, Peter, JJ, Nicula and Mark. Vis was average for Flinders but certainly not the worst we have seen there, Rays were absent. All in All a very nice dive.

Flinders Pier

Flinders Pier, on a good day , the best pier dive in Victoria, on a bad day possibly the worst! Good job today was on of the best , great vis , near calm conditions and a high tide. (always check the tides for this pier otherwise you will not enjoy it at all, High tide  or near to is the only time  to go)

Mornington Pier

Mornington Pier

A nice early morning dive at mornington pier With Lynn , Helen, Peter.
Pier is in state of repair and is missing the middle section.
However the thing for me was to try out some new camera settings, after reading an article on using f stops underwater.

So the theory goes that using a higher f stop allows the back ground to become black or blue, thereby highlighting the subject more.