Australia Pt 2

Richard Smith and his four road-tripping fish-fanatic friends continue their adventures around Australia in Melbourne and Tasmania

With the spectacular Great Ocean Road behind us, we waited for our ferry to take us across the mouth of the Port Philip Bay where Melbourne City sits to the north. We could see the picturesque Mornington Peninsula in the distance and I explained the lay of the land, and our coming diving schedule, to the other four.

We had already visited Edithburgh and Rapid Bay in South Australia and were doing remarkably well in checking off our wishlist of critters - pyjama squid and leafy seadragons at the top so far. Our little crack team, comprised of dive guide Yann Alfian, off-duty liveaboard cruise director Wendy Brown and naturalist publishers Ned and Anna DeLoach, had made the most of our chemistry above and below the waves. We each played to our strengths in tracking down our quarry, so we had high hopes for our temperate water muck diving around the jetties of the Mornington Peninsula and eventually the cold Tasmanian seas. As the ferry pulled into the jetty of Sorrento inside the mirror-like Port Philip Bay, we could see a couple of the jetties that we would dive in the coming days. Nearest to the mouth of the Bay is Portsea Pier, followed by Blairgowrie and Rye. On the ocean-exposed side of the peninsula is Flinder’s Pier - that would be our first dive location. We had rented an AirBnB bungalow in a residential street in Rye, which allowed us the luxury of spreading out with all our dive and camera gear, plus we had a tank-filling station conveniently located nearby.

It was a fairly gloomy morning as we drove for half an hour across the rural part of the peninsula to Flinder’s Pier. Yann’s eyes were already at work as he spotted a koala high up in a

gumtree enroute. This jetty was a fairly relaxed start to the Mornington Peninsula portion of our trip. While some of the other jetties have a more-arduous trek to get into the water, it is very easy at Flinder’s. The jetty itself is more exposed and it’s slightly cooler in the water, but conditions were fine for us and the water in February was 20˚C. This time of year is the austral summer, and about as warm as it gets.

The highlight of Flinder’s are the weedy seadragons, which tend to be less common inside the bay. Although we would be seeing more of these stunning fish in Tasmania, the weedies of the mainland have a different colour, so worth seeing. This was another shallow dive, reaching a maximum of 4m. We saw a couple of large weedies, but Yann surprised us all by finding a tiny newly hatched juvenile. Smaller than a toothpick, the little dragon swayed back and forth in the slight surge around the dense weed. It was almost impossible to keep a track of it in all the movement.

The next day we stayed closer to home and dived Blairgowrie jetty. This site is slightly trickier to access as it is around an active yacht harbour, which limits the ability to park and drop gear very close by. The nearby car park is up a flight of stairs on the top of the cliff and then there’s a 500-metre walk to the entry point. It is certainly my favourite dive in the area. Over the years, I have seen all sorts of unusual muck critters here. The pylons of the jetty are also covered in amazingly bright invertebrate growth, despite being so shallow.

After several back and forth trips to and from the bus, it was a relief to finally get in the water and we all immediately started spotting interesting animals. As well as the bountiful nudibranchs, there were many colour variations of potbellied seahorses, the world’s largest species reaching over a foot in length. Surprisingly, they are as difficult to spot as the smaller species, since their colour matches the local sponges so uncannily. Ned found a huge southern blue-ringed octopus, but I was transfixed by a courting trio of southern leatherjackets and missed it. Two gravid female leatherjackets were feeding, while an eager male showed off his dewlap and amazing colours. We were being torn in all directions.

After leaving the three of them to their private time, I came cross a stunning little sea robin, which startled both of us. It was just a couple of inches long, but with colours as bright as you can imagine. I also passed a baby ray, the size of the palm of my hand, illustrating just what a magnet this site is for juvenile fish. Even as I surfaced, I spotted a small baby seahorse clinging to a floating piece of seagrass at the surface. Research shows that due to being such poor swimmers as adults, baby seahorses cling to these kinds of debris to aid their camouflage and dispersal in the open ocean during this vulnerable time in their lives.

The handfish are a rather ancient group, related to frogfish and are only found around Tasmania and southern Australia

After a few wonderful days of diving around the Mornington Peninsula, we drove to the city and flew down to Hobart in Tasmania’s south, although in the past I have taken the overnight ferry from Melbourne to Devonport, and then driven to Hobart. I had been to the region a few years prior, so had certain areas and animals already in my sights. Again, an AirBnB made a perfect home for the five of us for the few days we were exploring the city and around. We started our diving schedule in the suburbs of Hobart, diving in the chilly Derwent Estuary. At around 16˚C in these summer conditions, the drysuit was suddenly coming into its own. During my previous visit, I had dived in a semi-dry in 13˚C, so had been better prepared this time. One afternoon, we made a trip up a local mountain and, despite being summer, there was a heavy snow flurry!

We planned a couple of dives around the Derwent Estuary in search of a very special group of fish, the handfish. The handfish are a rather ancient group, related to frogfish and are only found around Tasmania and southern Australia. There are 14 known species, but several are believed extinct and some are known from just a single specimen. First off, we were on the hunt for the critically endangered spotted handfish. The ‘critically endangered’ listing means that this species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction. The fish now remain only in the Derwent Estuary, having gone extinct

in other nearby estuaries. They are struggling with introduced Japanese seastars that are severely impacting the local environment. These prey on the eggs of the handfish, which are laid on intriguing stalked sea squirts on to the seafloor.

We had great success with the spotted handfish, thanks to Wendy, who spotted three for us. We even saw one with its tiny lure cast, which was reminiscent of their frogfish cousins. Sadly, though, we had less luck the next day while looking for the red handfish. Also indigenous to the Derwent Estuary, but even more rare, these fish are thought to only live along a 100-metre stretch of the shoreline. Another alien invader is seeing to the loss of these fish, although in this case it’s an Australian native that’s spread further south into Tasmanian waters only recently.

We were primarily in search of weedy seadragons, which are much more colourful here than their mainland counterparts

Tasmania’s sea is experiencing some of the most-extreme climatic change in the world. The seas here are warming at four times the global average. This is caused by the warm East Australian current that is pressing much further south than it has in the past. With this warm water comes the longspine urchin, which has a taste for algae and kelp. It is devouring Tasmania’s kelp forests at an alarming rate and has made rocky barrens of the red handfish’s habitat. The urchins are approaching from both directions, shrinking the red handfish’s last stand as they march on. In the end, it was the weather that prevented us from seeing the handfish, as there was too much swell and we couldn’t access the site. I hope that when I’m finally able to return, the stunning little fish hasn’t already been lost.

After Hobart, we drove just an hour down to the Eaglehawk Neck in southeastern Tasmania. Here we wanted to make the most of the more-adventurous diving opportunities and went out on two days of boat charters. We were primarily in search of weedy seadragons, which are much more colourful here than their mainland counterparts. I also asked about returning to the wonderful Waterfall Bay, where I had enjoyed the towering kelp forests six years prior. The dive guide informed me that, along with almost all Tasmanian kelp forests, they were already gone thanks to the urchins and warmer waters.

We did, however, have great success in finding the weedies and enjoyed plenty of time with them among the short and stocky bull kelp. We also had fun encounters with sealions and the locally endemic draughtboard sharks, which are a small cat shark measuring just a few feet in length.

A dark cloud came over our group upon return to the harbour. As we walked up the boat ramp, before us on a trailer was a magnificent several-metre-long shortfin mako shark. It was occasionally gasping for ‘breath’ and thrashing its tail. Fishers cheerfully posed with it, but us divers, having just experienced the amazing underwaterscapes just metres away, were completely sobered. Although globally endangered with extinction, eitherthese Tasmanian populations are considered less threatened by local fisheries, or haven’t been assessed. We contacted the local fisheries agencies, but as these sharks aren’t protected in these waters no crime had been committed.

Between dives we were able to enjoy the local topside scenery, which is stunning in this part of the world. It’s also one of the only places where you can find tiny live-bearing seastars. Just 1.5cm across as adults, they pop tiny miniature seastars out of the parent, rather than spawning into the water like all others. They are a fascinating and rare find in the local rock pools. After some fun rock pooling, we finally said good-bye to the most southern reaches of our trip and flew up to New South Wales for some entirely different diving. n

BIOGRAPHY

Richard Smith, a British underwater photographer and writer, aspires to promote an appreciation for the ocean’s inhabitants and raise awareness of marine conservation issues through his images. A marine biologist by training, Richard’s pioneering research on the biology and conservation of pygmy seahorses, led to the first PhD on these enigmatic fishes. Richard organises and leads marine life expeditions, where the aim is for participants to get more from their diving and photography by learning about the marine environment. His book, The World Beneath: The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs will be released in September 2019. www.OceanRealmImages.com