Scallops

(Pecten Novaezealandiae)

Scallops, common name ‘The New Zealand Scallop’, is a bivalve mollusc of the family Pectinidee, the scallops Pecten Novaezealandiae is a completely free-living, mobile and somewhat migratory. Scallops can swim with brief bursts of speed by clapping their shells together (Jet Propulsion)

The two valves are asymmetric. The left valve is convex while the right is flat. The concave valve has approximately 16 ribs. The colour is variable; however the valves are usually a whitish pink, but sometimes can be dark reddish brown.

Habitat:

Scallops are found on the seabed of sheltered coastal waters ranging from sand, silt and mud, from low tide level to depths of 30 metres or more. Large populations are usually found at depths of 10-25 metres.

Scallops are endemic to New Zealand. They are found in the North Island, South Island, Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands.

Breeding Habits:

Sexually mature individuals are hermaphrodites. They are broadcast spawners. The season when the organisms spawn is variable between locations. However, in Tasman bay, the peak time is from November to March. Fertilisation occurs and a plank tonic lava forms. This life stage is conserved for approximately three weeks

Farming:

In New Zealand, farming of scallops has been very successful in Tasman and Golden Bays, New Zealand Scallops (Pecten Novaezealandiae) are large fan-shaped shellfish with a flat upper shell and a deeply curved lower shell. They live on the seabed of coastal waters at depths of 30 meters or more.

Scallops are cultivated by suspending spat-collecting bags in coastal waters during summer. Thousands of scallop larvae settle out of the plankton onto the fine feathery surface of the bag. The larvae are left to grow to a suitable size before they are collected and released onto known natural scallop beds at densities of about 16 per square metre of sea floor. There they grow for one or two years before the bed is harvested by dredging or Rapido trawl.

Food Chain:

Natural predators of Scallops are Starfish, Octopus and of course Humans.

The New Zealand scallop is a large export industry of New Zealand. Scallops are considered a fine food and can be expensive to purchase.

Recreational and commercial fishing of the species is allowed at particular times of the year ‘Scallop Season’. The size and number which can be caught are under control of the quota management system, size and bag limits can vary from region to region. In some areas of suitable habitat, such as Tasman Bay scallop spat is seeded in an attempt to achieve a sustainable fishery.

Petone Wharf Clean Up

Unfortunately a worldwide problem but our divers are helping to make a difference locally.
September is officially Project AWARE’s Debris Month of Action with 100’s of underwater clean up schedule by dive stores and clubs. It also coincides with Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week.

So once more into the breach…

We headed back to Petone Wharf for our annual beach and underwater clean up.
The day was unexpectedly sunny and calm which ensured a fantastic turn out, with 10 divers and 15 volunteers on the beach and as surface support.

As the divers filled their catch bags with fishing gear, metal pipes, phones, knives, Hindu statues and bullets… they could surface alongside the wharf where our support crew used ropes to haul the load up to the trolley. This saved some long swims and meant the divers could collect more rubbish!

In total the divers collected ~138kg from under the wharf.

Along the beach the volunteers picked up 1000’s of small pieces of plastic and food wrappers. All of this hard work resulted in another 38kg of rubbish removed from the beach. Along the grass area by the wharf 327 cigarette butts were collected with many more just by the wharf. It appears that people stop to smoke and admire the view before dumping their cigarette!

Afterwards we had the opportunity to inspect our finds, relax, chat to other divers and like minded people while enjoying a BBQ and a cake!

NZ Shark Week

As part of NZ Shark Week Te Papa hosted some free presentations from our leading shark experts. We were initially given an overview of sharks – what are they, how are they identified and who are their close relatives? New Zealand has ~110 shark species, ~70 rays and ~ 12 chimeras (ghost sharks). The exact numbers are unknown as the research is not complete and possible new species have yet to be described.

Malcolm Francis Fisheries Scientist at NIWA, along with colleagues from other agencies, has been studying sharks for a number of years and is particularly interested in tagging and monitoring the movements of sharks.

One local study was run in Mana as this is known to be an important breeding ground for Rig Sharks. They tagged juvenile Rig Sharks and monitored their movement within the inlets – only one shark moved between the 2 arms of the inlet but preferences were shown for specific areas at various times which may be explained be feeding patterns. The study indicates that the entire inlet is used by the sharks and needs to be protected not just some areas within it.

Some of Malcolm’s more familiar work involves his studies on Great Whites at Stewart Island and at the Chathams, and he has presented some of his findings to our dive club in the past. Great Whites are not the cold water species we always imagined; Malcolm’s research shows that they also like to take a winter get away, often travelling 100km/day, as they head to the Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga! Each shark then returns to the islands they left. While travelling across open water the tags show the sharks diving to over 1000m but when around islands they stay much shallower. How they navigate is unknown and just one of several new questions arising from this research.

Mako sharks are also being tagged and their movements monitored. These sharks along with Blue Sharks and Porbeagles are often killed as by catch on Tuna lines so knowing their movements may allow for better fisheries management for all species.

Andrew Stewart, Collection Manager for fishes at Te Papa, highlighted the scarcity of knowledge of all species, but particularly sharks in our EEZ. With very little research having been conducted he is still being sent specimens from observers on fishing vessels, recreational fishermen and scientific expeditions that are as yet undescribed. Further research is being done to see whether these are new species or migrants from other areas. To be fair some of the deep water shark species are pretty ugly – including elephant fish, goblin sharks, longnose spookfish and frill sharks. However all species deserve to be protected and their roles in the ecosystem are currently unknown. It is thought that some of these species are threatened as a result of by catch from other managed fisheries.

Malina Palka from WWF came to represent the NZ Shark Alliance, a group of NGO’s and other interested groups who aim to ban the practice of shark finning in NZ waters. Shark finning is defined as the process of removing the fins off sharks at sea and dumping the bodies. 100 million sharks are killed every year or ~190 every minute, many just for their fins. Shark finning is still legal in NZ although the sharks must be killed first. We are one of the top 20 shark fisheries worldwide and a major exporter to Hong Kong. Finning generates ~$4.5 million in exports which is only 0.003% of our fishing exports. The government believes that sharks are protected under our Quota Management System (QMS) but with so little known on our shark species and current stock levels their survival cannot be guaranteed. The National Plan of Action (NPOA) for sharks is currently being reviewed and the NZSA is asking for your support to ban shark finning. Sharks can still be sustainably caught under the QMS as long as they are landed with ‘fins naturally attached’ – this is in line with other nations.
Visit http://www.nzsharkalliance.org.nz for more information and how you can help to ban shark finning in NZ waters.

As part of Shark Week the Island Bay Marine Education Centre is having a meet and greet session with sharks and shark experts this Sunday, 15th September from 10am-3pm. Take the family along for a great experience.

 

Safari Lodge – Fiji 2013

Tomo went last year for the Dive HQ conference, our Divemaster Kim completed her internship here in January and so I felt I was missing out and planned our annual club dive trip with Safari Lodge at Nananu-i-ra Island Fiji.

The adventure started with a direct flight to Nadi, a van ride north and an amazing boat ride to the island. It was dark all around us but there was amazing bioluminescence in the water, the milky way above and lightening off in the distance. We also saw several flying fish to entertain us.

We arrived just before midnight so after a quick welcome we snuck off to bed. We were even given the morning off with the first boat dives postponed til after lunch so we were able to relax and explore the area. This also gave us an opportunity to meet the divers from Dive HQ Hibiscus Coast who we would be diving with during the week.

We were all looking forward to our first dives and were not disappointed with lots of soft corals, yellow fish for Graeme and even a sea snake. With all the dive bugs ironed out and weighting sorted we were lucky with the weather and were able to spend the next two days out in the Vatu-I-ra passage – with some strong currents and magnificent soft corals.

The trade winds picked up and so the next few days were in the Bligh Strait – a little closer to home but still with lots of coral and strange creatures to be found. We even got to dive the Ovalau Ferry as something a little different.

After our boat dives we had plenty of time to go shore diving or snorkelling, try windsurfing, kayaking or even kite surfing but I will confess that my favourite activity was doing nothing. The hammocks were pretty comfortable if somewhat dangerous for some!

Safari Lodge was a great place to relax and the staff were friendly & certainly looked after us. The meals were all included in our package and there was plenty of it! With hot options available every meal along with a variety of salads/vegetables think we all ate too much – especially cake! The lodge has a variety of rooms available from dorms to private rooms to beach front bures but we spent most of our time hanging out on the front deck. I don’t think anyone wanted to leave so we will be back again next year.

Tough Gal!

So you think diving in Wellington in winter is tough….

I got convinced (conned?) into signing up for this years Tough Guy & Gal Challenge in Rotorua this month.

With no preparation I felt as if I was entering Hell and was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.

Amongst 1500 other participants some dressed up, a group of GUE (Global Underwater Explorers) divers from Wellington and Auckland met in Rotorua to complete yet another challenge – though this one was mostly above water. We decided to do this as a team to help each other mentally and physically as we looked at the obstacles in front of us. Having done the event before Jamie set himself a bigger challenge as he completed the 12km event as a team of one. We were worried he might overtake us on the course but we made it to the finish line first and were there to cheer him on as he finished his event.

6km may not sound far to some but throw in some water hazards – purely designed to get stones into one’s shoes (note to self – wear long socks next year), some obstacles – hurdles, tunnels, A-frames and an electric fence (& yes a number of our team tested this and the power was on!) then it was definitely far enough. Of course we were all waiting for the mud, glorious mud and the last obstacle did not disappoint as we waded, crawled and got stuck in waist deep mud. You had to work together to make it through. The final run was made more difficult with an extra kilo of mud in each shoe.

Our team made it over the finish line in 1:08 – so next year’s challenge will be to come in under the hour.
Definitely achievable in 2014. Who else is going to join us?

Rebreathers!

On Friday the 10th of May this year I attended the first ever New Zealand TeCFest. By June 30 just seven weeks later I was certified on my own closed circuit rebreather. Claire has asked me to write a few paragraphs about how this all came about so here goes.

Prior to TecFest I was certified to nitrox level and generally did 50 minute shore dives most Saturdays, taking a few photos of the local life. I had a vague idea that I wanted to advance in diving in some direction but I wasn’t really sure what direction that might be. I wasn’t sure if I was interested in wrecks, I was fairly sure I wasn’t interested in caves and there didn’t seem to be any avenue of technical diving for people who just want to hang with the fish.

So I went up to TechFest with an open mind hoping that I would discover what I wanted to do next. After the first day of dives we all got together in the kitchen to listen to presentations about various aspects of technical diving. Richard Taylor said a few words about rebreathers in his introduction and then Paul Trainor got up to talk about them in more detail, by which time I’d had a ‘that’s it’ moment. There are several advantages to rebreathers including gas efficiency, decompression efficiency, warm gas, and silence but what really sold me was the fact that you can get closer to the fish and potentially get better photos. After the presentation several of us got up make further enquiries and to prod the two units on display. It turned out that getting set up with a rebreather, while being a considerable investment, had got a bit cheaper since my last idle enquiry about costs 2 years ago. And I could do the training in Wellington and Paul had a unit on hand that would be ideal for what I wanted…

Admittedly I hadn’t done a great deal of research up to this point so the next step was to spend the fortnight after TecFest asking as many questions and doing as much reading as I could before making a decision. My unit is a KISS Classic manual closed circuit rebreather (mCCR), the main deciding factors in its favour were that it has a reputation for being easy to maintain and is one of the lighter units available which makes travelling easier. And for the same reason as learning on your Dad’s old Hillman Hunter was supposed to make you a better driver when you graduated to your first Toyota Starlet I could also see the value in starting out on a manual CCR.

So decision made and bank account emptied I fronted to Island Bay for my first training sessions over Queens Birthday weekend. The training is huge. The first six hours or so just covered the initial setup of the unit and an overview of what all the bits do. After setup and pre-dive checks it was off to the pool for my first go in the water with it. I had heard that buoyancy was different so I expected this, on open circuit when you inhale your lungs inflate and you ascend in the water column and the opposite reaction occurs when you exhale. On a rebreather this effect is absent as you exhale into and inhale from a loop which includes counter lungs that inflate and deflate after each breath while passing the gas through the scrubber to remove carbon dioxide ready for your next breath. The thing I noticed the most was the silence, in the pool you can hear the water pumping and the sound of the water hockey players but noise from regulators and bubbles are very noticeable in their absence.
Having completed a pool session you then do seven hours in the water over seven dives. On each dive you complete a number of skills to simulate getting out of trouble. At first you get an underwater demo which you repeat, then come the flash cards with the name of a possible issue e.g. hypercapnia or hyperoxia and then towards the end of the course you just see a card with the likely symptoms of the problem. After every dive there is a review session and you get scored on a scale of 1 to 5, hopefully showing some improvement over the duration of the course. There is also a great deal of time spend on dry training i.e. setting up, dismantling and sterilising the unit, pre-dive checks, checklist theory and other safety issues.

Different set up options for tall and not so tall divers!

On day two we went through the pre-dive checks and then it was off to Island Bay for my first dive in the ocean. Within about five minutes I knew I’d made the right decision. We descended to a depth of around 5 meters and were surrounded by a school of baitfish. Instead of just buzzing past they circled past us over and over again. They got so close you could look into their eyes and see their colours and markings, you could almost see scales. It was like you could reach out an arm and touch them. When I tried this they moved just out of reach and then moved closer again once I dropped my arm.

Admittedly there were some issues to get past, for the first couple of dives you feel like you are going to spend the rest of your diving life monitoring and adjusting PO2, but then during dive three or four you begin to get the hang of maintaining it at the appropriate level. The Wellington weather has been rubbish in June and boats seemed to be cancelled more often than run. The course requirements are for several deep dives including at least one to 30m so it was back to Lake Taupo for dives three to six. It’s fair to say that there were no more beautiful fish moments in Lake Taupo, or in Shelly Bay for the final dive of the course with 1 metre visibility, but I’ve completed the course and now need to focus on getting out and diving and consolidating the good practices learnt on the course.

I’ve booked a trip to Northland in a few weeks and I’ve got a rough training plan for the next two or three rebreather courses. I’ve even booked a trip to Truk in 2014, having decided I may be interested in wrecks after all, especially if they’re kept in warm clear water. So the trip to TecFest was definitely a success as it looks like I’ve found my direction in diving.

A week diving and exploring the Mikhail Lermontov…

Laying in Port Gore in the Marlborough sounds is a wreck like no other. Sitting in 36m of water, you can find the resting place of the 176m cruise liner the Mikhail Lermontov, the largest wreck in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Lermontov sank on the 16th February 1986, from damage sustained to its port side from a collision as the cruise liner was carelessly navigated close to rocks at Cape Jackson. After an effort to beach the ship failed, all passengers and crew abounded ship. Out of the 738 people on board, the sinking of the ship claimed only one life…

Now imagine having that in your head as you are following a line through the cinema with your torch in one hand and the line in the other. As you move the light from side to side, you can see the cinemas chairs still bolted to the deck which sits on your right hand side. You squeeze the material of the chair just to see if it’s real, creating a little plume of silt. Shining your touch below there are piles of debris and the remains of the chairs which had come unbolted as the wreck had aged. To say you feel alone would be a lie… As well as your buddy, there are loads of little eyes reflecting in your torch light, fish trying to hide but hopelessly giving away their location. This feeling of exploration and excitement is what diving the Lermontov is all about, especially for Mike and Nick who spent a week there at the beginning of the month.

We left Wellington early Monday morning enjoying a glorious sunrise on our journey across the Cook Strait to Picton. Arriving around midday we were met by Brent from Go Dive Marlborough, who has probably dived the wreck more times than anyone else in the world… Now that is an experienced guide!! Over the following hours we drove through the sounds to reach our destination for the week, the Lermontov Lodge. Miles away from civilisation it’s an awesome place to immerse yourself in diving.

To conclude our first day we jumped in for a quick dive before dinner to get ourselves set for the week ahead. Waking up on Tuesday morning, the sun was still rising as we ate our breakfast. The plan for the week was to complete Nick’s PADI Advanced Open Water and Enriched air Diver, as well as the PADI Wreck and Deep Diver specialties for both him and Mike… The boys really did want a challenge!!

First dive of the day was PPB, followed by their first dive on the Lermontov for the Wreck adventure. Like two kids at Christmas you could see the excitement in their eyes as we explored the portside of the vessel sitting in approximate 16m of water. Quick stop for lunch and back out to complete Nicks Navigation adventure dive. Day 1 complete just in time for the heavens to open and the rain to pour, but still the fellas had a smiles from ear to ear.

Our early start of day two was scuppered with a North Westerly cutting across the bay. No diving in the morning but theory, theory, theory… Just after lunch the sky cleared and we managed to squeeze in the Deep Adventure Dive. The wreck was blown out, so we headed down one of the many lines of the mussel farm. As we descended the light slowly left us on that gloomy day. At the bottom we explored the sandy area by torch light, observing many of the sea cucumber that collect at the bottom of the farms. I am still sure I caught a glimpse of Spiny Dogfish, but neither Nick nor Mike believed me. On the surface we thought it was only right to grab a few mussels for dinner. With the rest of the day blown out, we spent the evening watching episodes of the classic US series Sea Hunt, filmed in the late 50’s. It was interesting to see the evolution in diving equipment from when this show was filmed… but it still amazes me how these guys went diving in speedos!!

Thursday morning arrives and as if by magic the sea was like glass. Two dives on the wreck in the morning saw us explore the damage caused by the collision with the rock at Cape Jackson. The second dive of the morning we focused our attention on the mapping of the bridge of the ship. The boys, happy to be diving on the wreck again, jumped when I told them the good news… We were doing a night dive on the Lermontov that evening!! After a long lunch we got ourselves ready and headed out to the wreck as it started to get dark. Count of three we backwards rolled in and made our decent to the Lermontov. Having dived the wreck many times, it is still a whole different world at night. As we swam along the deck there was a carpet shark laying on the deck. Slightly dazed it swam straight over to Mike, gave him a nudge with his nose and then swam off. Probably best he didn’t see that… but we do have the video to prove it!!

Friday saw the guys complete their wreck specialty. For the first dive we evaluated points of entry and exit for the Bolshoi lounge, followed by practicing line drills on the outside of the wreck. On the second dive the boys put their skills to the test with their first penetration on the wreck. From the portside windows to the door of the lounge, the guys lined and explored this entertainment area, with its tables and chandlers still fixed in place. Like professionals Nick lined in with Mike following behind, tying off the line on solid items as him swam through; at the door they changed places with Mike reeling the line in back to the exit. All safely back at the window, the guys well and truly deserved their certification.

Saturday we started the day with our deepest dive, down to 36m to explore the starboard side. As we descended down the deck over the cranes and ropes light quickly disappeared. Surprisingly visibility was really clear at depth and there was a huge school of Tarahiki to keep us entertained. After a long surface interval we prepared for our first exploration of the wreck. Descending to the stern we entered into the pool at 27m. It is a strange sensation to see a pool on your left hand side and the glass surround on your right. From here we headed up to the winter deck swimming over the library, cinema and Nevsky bar before exiting onto the Portside of the ship. Returning back to the Lodge for our final evening, the guys were buzzing after their dives and completing all their courses.

So the grand finale… They get to plan where they want to dive on their final day!!
Sunday morning came and their plan was set. With Enriched air in their cylinders they were ready to explore the ship. Where did they go? What did they see? Well you will have to ask them that one… The cinema was one of the areas they got to apply the skills they learnt over the week, as well as many others cool sections. Staying within their training and the light zone they got to see some cool areas I’m sure they will be happy to tell you about next time they see you. One thing is for sure; 15 dives in seven days was a great week of diving…

If you fancy exploring the wreck and seeing what it has to offer… have a chat with Claire; I’m sure there will be another awesome trip later on this year.

Chris Clarke

The Mary Rose

Recently in the news with a new purpose built museum in Portsmouth, England; the Mary Rose is an amazing time capsule of its time.<

Built for King Henry VIII between 1509-1511 she sunk during a battle with French in 1545. King Henry VIII watched his ship sink in Portsmouth Harbour in 14m of water from Southsea Castle. Few of the 400+ sailers and soldiers survived due to heavy nets hung over the structure to prevent boarding by the enemy.

The Mary Rose was rediscovered by pioneer divers the Deane brothers. They recovered a bronze demi cannon built in London in 1542.

In 1965 – 1971 a search was made using sonar and side scan equipment to relocate the Mary Rose. From the 1970’s excavations determined the extent of the wreckage and plans were made for the recovery of the hull. On the 11th October 1982 the largest section of hull was lifted. The last 30 years of conservation has involved the use of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) to stabilise the waterlogged hull, replacing the water content and finally allowing display in a temperature controlled environment.

I visited the Historic Shipyards in 1998 as part of a Nautical Archaelogical course I was attending in Portsmouth. I was lucky that 2 of our instructors had worked on the Mary Rose project and were able to share many of their stories with us, as anecdotes in class or as we toured the exhibits. For me it was amazing to experience the history in front of me. King Henry VIII seemed more like a character than an historical figure yet I stood at the same site he stood watching the Mary Rose sink. I saw longbows 2m long when the average height was only 1.7m.

Historians can tell us from the items collected what the men ate, what they wore, what they did for work and for fun in their spare time.
Dice, a backgammon set, books and musical instruments were all discovered aboard the ship. Clothing made from leather, silk and wool all survived 500 years buried in the silt.

TecFest 2013

Tec Fest 2013: 10th – 12th May

Late last year Brent McFadden sent me an email with an idea that he had been mulling on for some time. This idea grew into the inaugural TecFest event held at Motutere, Lake Taupo last weekend.

Divers from all around the country were invited to attend presentations, complete TDI Intro to Tec Courses, try drysuits, twin and sidemount gear configurations, go diving and generally chat and share information on a variety of dive techniques, dive sites and gear.

A group of us headed up to Taupo on Thursday so that we could complete a drift dive down the Waikato before the event kicked off. For most this was their first drift dive and a lot of fun!

The event began with Brent’s introduction and an overview of what we might expect in the days to come. Then Richard and Troy from TDI introduced us the range of courses that they offer to both sport and technical divers. TDI had sponsored 14 FREE Intro to Tec courses and 5 of our divers were lucky enough to be doing this course over the weekend.

It was then time to walk across the road for the first dives… there were several options to pick from including boat dives at the Island, Sidemount try dives with Chris, Intro to Tec Dives or even (heaven forbid) FUN dives!
The students entertained us as they practiced different fin techniques on the beach…

Joining Chris at the beach were divers interested in trying sidemount diving – after an introduction to the Hollis sidemount systems and how to use them they were off diving!

Back at the campground it was time to cook dinner – the only time it rained over the entire weekend. After dinner we had some more presentations – Brent gave an overview of Gas Blending techniques while Paul Trainor discussed Closed Circuit and Semi-Closed Rebreathers.

The students headed down early to get ready for their next course dives where they were to keep practicing finning techniques and deploy a SMB – Surface Marker Buoy. They also had the opportunity to try a drysuit – thanks to the guys from Ocean Dry who were down for the day and twin tank setups.

After a more leisurely start to the morning the rest of us headed out for some fun dives while I took some drysuit try divers out for a splash and got buzzed by divers with scooters!

With the sun shining and a quick break for lunch it was back diving and enjoying what the lake has to offer – some trout and koura and a nice stepped drop off – to 45m according to some of the divers who got that far!

Another BBQ followed by some more presentations. These were right up my alley with talks on Cave Diving here and in Australia and then Advanced Wreck Diving – particularly on the Mikhail Lermontov with some of our divers having starring roles during the presentation.
We have divers are heading down to the Lermontov next month ( 3rd – 9th June) for their Deep and Wreck Specialty courses so if you are tempted to join them give us a call 

And then sadly enough it was all over – time to say goodbye and thank you to all the divers who made this inaugural event some a fun and interesting weekend. We all left having learnt something and dreaming about that next course – trip – or piece of equipment on our wish list!

Exploration Dive

1st dive in 8 weeks!!

I had been out of the water for way too long! 8 weeks to the day in fact so I was looking forward to heading back underwater to take photos and blow bubbles.

The weather was on my side as we headed out to Elsdon Pipe on the South Coast. This site is not as regularly dived as many others – in fact I had only been here once before.

Fortunately Pete, one of our instructors, has done lots of diving in Wellington and has ventured to many underwater locations that most of us have never heard of let alone dived. Even at familiar dive sites Pete has pushed the known boundaries of the site to find new reefs to explore.

Pete’s extensive knowledge of the site, it’s terrain, marine life and potential hazards was shared in the briefing and each group of divers picked a suitable dive profile for their ability. Two groups headed over the reef through a channel and out to the gardens. A site that apparently opens up into the bay with rocky outcrops and the potential for rays, octopus and squid.

I was then lucky enough to dive with Pete who planned to show me the best of the dive site at the end of the point. The entry is a little like a cross between gymnastics (walking the pipeline like a beam) and an obstacle course with a few rocks to negotiate and an interesting entry point in the final channel.

The reef drops quickly into 5-7m with a lots of channels to swim through as you head south out towards the sand in 15m. We kept the dives relatively simple following the reef back to the beach. Pete has all the bearings that you need to follow in his head and it was nice for me to tag along, take photos and trust in the fact that Pete could lead me home again.

The marine life here was fantastic. The colour on all the walls as you swim through the channels is due to sponges, bryozoans and asidiians. Large blue cod follow you around and I had one in my face for ages as it checked me out. We would of seen at least 100 crays of all sizes. Some were so large they didn’t even need to hide in the rocks!!

Both dives were 55 minutes long – next time I have the opportunity to dive with Pete I should use 12 litre tanks (not my usual 9l). There was so much more to explore along Elson Pipe that even 2 dives wasn’t enough so we will definitely be heading back again soon.

Explorations! Experiences! Expeditions!
Pete has offered to run more exploration dives around Wellington for experienced divers. When you listen to Pete describe some of these dives you will definitely want to join him to explore the sites. These will be small group dives followed by a BBQ at the beach. The cost is $20 including the tank fill. Experienced divers are hard to define but we believe that you should have your Advanced Open Water Course as a minimum, ~50 dives and be familiar with Wellington’s dive conditions, comfortable with surge and currents and be able to dive for ~60 minutes.

The first of these dives will be run on Saturday the 25th of May. So if you think you know all of what Wellington has to offer underwater – think again and join Pete on what he describes as an ‘amazingly sexy dive!’