BHP Jetty Night Dive

Wednesday 15th July – BHP Jetty Night Dive

It was just the two of us today on the BHP Jetty Night Dive, but what the rest of you missed was probably the best visibility we have had for the past couple of months.  The conditions were pretty close to perfect with a light current running north to south and virtually no swell.

With a maximum depth of around 8.3m we were down for 67 minutes which at 15 deg C did start to get a bit cold, but we were rewarded by some great things to see.  No Great Whites or Manta rays that we had been promised, but the number of Seahorses and colourful Nudibranch were fantastic.

Having experimented with video last week, I took a few more snippets today along with a lot of photos so I will share a few:

Firstly, for those of you who haven’t been on a night dive, this is Aaron ahead of me:

The legs of the Jetty are covered in soft corals, feather anemone and there were a lot of starfish and these Nudibranch crawling around:

Camoflague Starfish - BHP Jetty Night Dive
Camouflage Starfish – BHP Jetty Night Dive
Feather Anemone - BHP Jetty Night Dive
Feather Anemone – BHP Jetty Night Dive
Purple Spotted Orange Nudibranch - BHP Jetty Night Dive
Purple Spotted Orange Nudibranch – BHP Jetty Night Dive

The Seahorses were out in force:

Seahorse Family - BHP Jetty Night Dive
Seahorse Family – BHP Jetty Night Dive
Seahorse Pair - BHP Jetty Night Dive
Seahorse Pair – BHP Jetty Night Dive

Including this beautiful orange seahorse!

Shortly before the turn, Aaron spotted a Cuttlefish hiding under some rocks:

Purple Cuttlefish - BHP Jetty Night Dive
Purple Cuttlefish – BHP Jetty Night Dive
Purple Cuttlefish - BHP Jetty Night Dive
Purple Cuttlefish

And then further on we met another one swimming in the open water:

And then a small Stingray next to a shoal of juvenile Catfish.

Stingray - BHP Jetty Night Dive
Stingray

 

On the way up to the beach, we stayed under and scanned the sand for other interesting life.  As always there where quite a number of Blue Swimmer Crabs and small fish, and then we came across this Sand Eel trying to hide from our lights.

And this which has now been identified as a Horrowed Sole.

Next week, the Perth Scuba Manta Club have pencilled in a dive on the coast North of the river, but that will be weather dependant.  The wind and swell are dropping after the weekend, so fingers crossed…

PADI Instructor Exam (IE) in Perth WA

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June 2015 – Perth PADI Instructor Exam (IE) in Perth WA

Following the past four weeks of study, confined water practice, open water practice and classroom instruction, this weekend the PADI Instructor Exam (IE) is finally upon us.

Saturday was taken up with the written exams, confined water skills, and teaching presentations with Sunday dedicated to the open water.  With the West Australian reporting a warning of big waves over the weekend we were thinking we would be in the river, but with the benefit of the shelter of Garden Island, we were able to go to the Rockingham Wreck trail (a local favourite).

Open Water at the IE
Open Water at the IE

Once we got in, the conditions for the open water section were cool at 17 deg C, but at least we didn’t have the rain and hail of last weekend!  The visibility wasn’t great but none of us let that get in the way of showing off our stuff.  A bit of chop for the rescue exercise just makes it all a bit more realistic!

The IE Candidates
The IE Candidates

Ten candidates, all from the IDC at Perth Scuba on the beach afterwards with our instructor, Brandon and the IE (Steve).

Its all over
Its all over

A fantastic result as we all passed, so soon we will all be taking PADI Open Water Scuba classes.