6 minute read
AUSTRALIA
from The Edge #1
Adrian Stacey embarks on a New South Wales drive-n-dive roadtrip, this time stopping off at Coffs Harbour in an attempt to dive with the grey nurse sharks in the
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADRIAN STACEY
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Coffs Harbour was the first destination on my New South Wales roadtrip. This small seaside town is just about equal distance from Sydney and Brisbane, around a five-hour drive from either city. The town is a great base for exploring the surrounding area’s numerous national parks and attractions. From the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforest to stunning beaches and, of course, the iconic Big Banana fun park. The reason for my stay, however, was not to gaze in awe at a big Banana, or take a stroll along one of the many pristine beaches, or even to enjoy the humid tranquillity of a rainforest, the reason for my visit was to dive at South Solitary Island.
The Solitary Island marine park stretches along the coast for almost 90km from Mutton Bird Island at Coffs Harbour up to Polver Island near the Sandon River. The marine reserve covers an area of 72,000 hectares and is home to 858 species of fish and 90 species of coral. Most importantly, the area offers protection to the endangered grey nurse sharks. Once hunted relentlessly, mainly because of their fearsome looks and the perception that they were maneaters, the grey nurse shark seems to be making a comeback. These amazing creatures can now be found throughout the park. They used to only venture into these waters in the winter when the water is a lot cooler, but recently they have taken up permanent residence at South Solitary Island, with their numbers swelling dramatically during the winter.
The Solitary Island marine park is uniquely situated, it is where the tropical waters of the north collide with the temperate waters of the south to create an unusual and interesting mixture of aquatic creatures, plants and corals. The different seasons offer different diving experiences, each with its own merits. In the summer months, November to April, the waters are warmed by the East Australian Current, temperatures can reach up to 26 degrees C and a variety of tropical fish ride the current to South Solitary Island.
The summer months also attract the larger fish, crowd pleasers like manta rays and leopard sharks. In the winter, May to October, the warmer waters from the north are replaced but the cooler influence of the Southern Ocean and the temperature can drop to a bracing 18 degrees C. These cooler waters are favoured by the hypnotic giant cuttlefish and attract an influx of the buck-toothed grey reef sharks.
South Solitary Island itself looks windswept and inhospitable. The only designable features are the nowunmanned lighthouse and several outbuilding. This barren outpost looks like an unforgiving place to live, and it seemed intent on making life as difficult as possible for its former inhabitants. With no easy or safe place to moor a boat, a gantry was built and cranes were used to unload supplies and building materials. The harsh conditions destroyed the first two gantries and the third one in now slowly succumbing to the elements. A good chunk of it is laying on the seabed.
My first dive was at a site called Manta Arch, as the name suggests this is a place where mantas are often sighted, and in the right season grey nurse sharks congregate in large numbers. Unfortunately, this was not the right season for large numbers of grey nurse sharks and the mantas were Swim-through with shoals of fish elegantly swooping around some other rock formation, away from interfering divers. However, a large school of tropical fish swirled around this rocky structure creating a pleasant introduction to the dive and giving us a taster of what was to come. After the arch, we made our way over sheer ridges and across a boulder-strewn plain, which was littered with wobbegong sharks, to the murky gutters that the resident grey nurse sharks like to congregate in. As we swam deeper into the gutter, along the steep walls of this imposing ravine, more and more of these elegant, toothy creatures casually swam past us, with perhaps up to 20 sharks meandering out of this single gutter - not a bad number of sharks be greeted by considering this is low season for them! After hanging around with the grey nurse sharks for as long as possible, it was time to make our way back to the boat, which had moored up on the other side of the island. Our route took us around the northern tip of South Solitary Island, through a jagged valley encrusted with hard coral and yet more wobbegong sharks and onto a shallow plateau.
The second dive was a gentle drift that began at shark gutters and finished at The Gantry. For this dive, we were treated to an ever-changing topography and an interesting mixture of marine life and corals. We began by exploring the shark gutters where we came across one or two solitary grey nurse sharks and a curious number of nudibranchs. The underwater landscape was a latticework of deep ravines, sheer walls and swim-throughs, inhabited by swarms of cave sweeper and patrolled by the occasional large cod. Once we had finished exploring the shark gutters we venture further along the dive site and the reefs cape changed to plateau of hard coral and boulders covered in soft corals. There was the usual smattering of wobbegongs, numerous turtles and a great variety of schooling fish - blue tangs, bannerfish and snapper to name a few. As we slowly glided along Boulder Wall, there was a proliferation of anemones before evidence of the gantry that had once served the island came into view. This metal structure that had fallen into the ocean decades ago is now encrusted in corals.
Unfortunately, I only had two dives at South Solitary Island, but over the course of those dives I was treated to interesting topography, healthy coral growth and I saw over 20 grey nurse sharks, untold wobbegongs, turtles, huge schools of fish, numerous rays and plenty of nudibranchs. In my book this is a pretty impressive shopping list of creatures. The more I dive in the temperate / subtropical waters of Australia, the more of a fan I become, and South Solitary Island is certainly a great place to experience some of the best diving in the area.
This metal structure that had fallen into the ocean decades ago has now become a home for a variety of creatures and is encrusted in corals
RAID DIVE CENTRES
The Scuba Gym www.thescubagym.com.au
Total Immersion Diving www.totalimmersiondiving.com.au
