Yesterday (Tue 18 Jan), a diver became separated from the group of people he was diving with near Bluff in Southland, New Zealand. He drifted about 2km in an hour before being spotted by 2 sea kayakers. He had deployed an SMB and was apparently floating on it. One of the kayers stayed with him, while the other alerted his dive group.
The coast guard were apparently alerted at around 1:20pm, but were stood down around 10 minutes later.
There is more information in the New Zealand Herald.
A paper in Naturwissenschaften by researchers from the Universities of Western Australia and Queensland claims that sharks may be colour blind. Whereas people have 3 cone types capable of receiving red, green or blue light, it seems that sharks may only have one. This implies that contrast against a background might be more important than actual colour. Given that the wavelengths of sunlight are absorbed the deeper you go, starting with reds and yellows, perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising.
The researchers looked at the retinal cells from 17 species of shark caught in Queensland and Western Australia. They are suggesting that their findings might help to design long-line fishing lures that are less attractive to sharks, thereby reducing the chances of them being caught by accident. It might also make it possible to design swimsuits and surf boards that are less “attractive” to sharks.
Apparently many marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and seals, also have only one single, green-sensitive cone type in their eyes. So it sounds as though two different groups of marine creatures have evolved a similar visual design separately. Perhaps in the marine environment, colour is just a distraction and confers no evolutionary advantages. Perhaps the extra information being sent to the brain, is more of a hindrance than a help underwater.
In addition to the Naturwissenschaften article, which you will need to be a subscriber to read in full, there is a brief article on the BBC website.
There are reports that a 58 year old Russian woman who was travelling as part of a group to do a dive on the wreck of the Mikhail Lermontov has died. It appears that she collapsed on the dive boat before the dive started and could not be revived. There is speculation that she had a heart attack.
You can read more in the New Zealand Herald, and stuff.co.nz.
After a couple of shore dives in November that Jacqui kept telling me were not representative of New Zealand diving, Rita and I were ready to find out more about what proper New Zealand diving was all about. So it was with great excitement that we headed off to Northland Dive on Boxing Day. Several others from BSAC New Zealand had gone up on Christmas Day for a massive Christmas Dinner so, as Mitch put it, they would be suitably “fattened up for the fishies”. They had then been out all day on Boxing Day diving at Cathedral Cave. Meanwhile Rita and I had been delayed somewhat by a scheduled Christmas Day party and an unscheduled, but not entirely surprising, Boxing Day hangover. So it was around 6pm by the time we turned up at the Cowshed, the dive lodge run by Shane and Julia of Northland Dive. The plan was for 2 more days of diving.
After years of berating people at South China Diving Club for failing to bring enough beer to club events (i.e. enough for them, and some extra for me), I found myself in the uncharacteristic position of turning up for a dive trip with no beer whatsoever. Our efforts to impress our new Club were off to a flying start! So in an attempt to divert attention from my own idiocy, I proceeded to blame the DM for not warning us. Rather than giving me the stick that I deserved, Mitch, being such a nice guy, actually apologised! Fortunately there was a shop that sold alcohol a mere 26km round trip away. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was shut. So I arrived at the Cowshed for the second time that evening in an even worse mood than the first time. But then things took a turn for the better when Shane and Julia took pity on us and sold me a case from their private beer supply.
With that near catastrophe averted, we were finally able to be sociable and to start trying to remember everyone’s names. We had met most of the club members before. In addition to Andy and Fiona, Brent, Mitch and Jacqui, were Brett and Tony. They showed us how things should be done, by arriving with a year’s supply of Steinlager, several bottles of bourbon and raging thirsts. Finally there was Chris, Andy and Fiona’s son. He was just visiting for a few weeks, and it was one of those bizarre coincidences where you travel 12,000 miles to the far side of the world, only to bump into someone who lives 5 miles from where you were brought up. He is studying paediatric nursing at Queen Alexander Hospital in Portsmouth, near where I used to live. (Reminder for next time I meet him: “paediatrics” is something to do with children, not feet. Although in my defence children have feet too, or should that be two feet? ).
After a great dinner, courtesy of Julia, it was outside to see the eels that live in the stream at the back of the Cowshed. There are some monsters in there. I’ve a feeling Rita and I may have failed to bolster our wildlife and conservation credentials, after a spirited discussion as to whether they are better grilled Japanese style in a teryaki marinade or chopped up and cooked in a black bean sauce. A bit later on a few people prepared for the morning’s diving by getting an early night, while Brett, Tony, Rita and I prepared for the morning’s diving by cracking open the beer.
And so it was on the Monday morning that we headed down to the launch point for the boats. Northland Dive have two big RIBs that take up to 16 divers. Rita and I continued our attempts to impress our new club by being 20 minutes later onto the boat than everyone else. Rita thought she was wearing my undersuit under her drysuit by mistake so had to kit up twice. Meanwhile I was resplendent in a semi-drysuit that was intended for someone 6 inches taller than me, which I’d inherited from Andreas in Hong Kong. The neck seal seals perfectly, around my forehead! So all I need is a periscope so I can see out. Having watched all this, Mitch very kindly offered to let us follow him and Brent around on the dive, although whether that was to make our lives easier or to make sure we didn’t do anything else stupid, he was too polite to tell us.
Photo of photo of the sinking
So with all of us finally on board, we headed off to the Canterbury. This is a Leander class frigate that served in the New Zealand navy between 1971 and 2005. She represented New Zealand at the Fleet Review for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. She displaced 2,945 tonnes, is 113.4 metres long with a beam of 13.1 metres and a draught of 5.5 metres, and was sunk as an artificial reef and diving attraction in November 2007 in Deep Water Cove. This was largely due to the efforts of Northland Dive who submitted a tender to sink her through the Bay of Islands Canterbury Charitable Trust. I spoke to Shane about it later, and it sounds as though it was a major project to get all the necessary approvals and to clean up the ship enough in preparation for the sinking. I am hugely impressed at all the effort that they went to.
There are 3 moorings on the wreck, one at the bow, one at the stern and one at the top of the mast. We tied up to the middle buoy and dropped down the line. Almost immediately the mast came into view at 14 metres, and as we got lower the superstructure appeared out of the gloom. Even though it has only been down for 3 years, it is starting to become colonised with life, but it still looks very much like it would have done before it was sunk. It is upright, on a very slight slope, with the bow in around 32 metres and the stern in 36 metres. We headed to the stern and did a tour of the helicopter deck before swimming into the hangar. From there we went forward, stopping off at the bridge before finishing up back on the mast and heading up the line for a safety stop. We got back to the surface, where there was a small amount of competition for “Most elegant entry to the boat”. But there was considerably more competition for “Least elegant entry to the boat”!
With everyone back on board, we headed to a nearby beach for a very welcome packed lunch. Trying to redeem myself from our late start in the morning, I headed back to the RIB to try and be first to change my tank over. Despite being in standing depth of water, I think I won the “Least elegant …” competition by a country mile, when I overbalanced and fell back out of the boat completely. I looked around quickly to make sure no-one had noticed, only to find everybody sympathetically laughing their heads off. Fortunately no-one had been quick enough to capture it on camera.
After that, it was back to the Canterbury. This time Mitch took us down into the hole where the gun turret had been, and forward along a corridor to the bow. After a quick turn around the chain locker, we headed out of one of the holes that has been cut in the sides of the ship. There are a number of these diver-friendly holes cut in the top two decks to allow easy access. No holes have been cut in the lower two decks, which means they are more challenging for experienced wreck divers. We swam back along the ship and took one of the companionways along the side of the superstructure, before working our way back up the mast to the line, and finally onto the RIB. Gradually the others arrived back. Brett had quite clearly not read the user guide for his wetsuit, particularly the chapter Zips: Their Use and Operation, because he’d forgotten to do his up, although he did try and convince us it was because he’d been too hot on the dive.
Back at the Cowshed, we washed the gear and then Rita and I headed off on another 26km round trip in search of beer. This time we were in luck and the shop was still open. It’s not the cheapest beer I’ve ever bought, but it was cold and that was the main thing. In high spirits we arrived back and found Brett and Tony were already 5 beers ahead of us – a deficit we completely failed to overhaul. The evening took a similar form to the night before. But with Shane’s rather pessimistic weather report that the odds of us diving on the Tuesday were about 50:50, Brett and Tony cracked open the first of the bourbon. Their decision turned out to be a good one, as sure enough, the wind picked up and our final day’s diving was called off, leaving us with a leisurely drive back to Auckland.
So is the Canterbury a good wreck? I certainly found it interesting, with a lot to see and explore, and in the two dives we did, we barely scratched the surface. Rita kept saying how “clean” it looked, a sharp contrast to the wrecks in Truk and Subic that we’d dived most recently, all of which had been underwater considerably longer and most of which were covered in coral and were much more silty inside. And what about the marine life I hear you ask? The fish aficionados among you may want to look away at this point, as my “renowned” knowledge of fish life gets an unexpected airing. There were lots of juvenile filefish(?) all over the ship, and on the starboard railing below the bridge was a very large scorpion fish (?). On the second dive , where we were surrounded by a massive school of what may have been snapper(?). There were also a number of nudibranchs(?) on the superstructure. Now you can probably see why that part of the report was only intended for those of us who are piscatorially challenged, those of us who don’t know our wrasse from our elbow.
When I was younger I was lucky enough to visit a number of Leander class frigates at Navy Days which used to be held every year at Portsmouth dockyard. It surprised me how many memories of those visits that the wreck brought back to me, and how well I could remember the layout and appearance of the ship, although the helicopter hangar seemed a lot smaller than when I was 12 years old. Despite missing the final day’s diving, it was a great trip and I hope to be back to dive the Canterbury again very soon.
Thanks in particular to Mitch, who in addition to acting as dive manager for the weekend, sorted out tanks for us and led us around the ship. Thanks also to Fiona and Jacqui, who were busy instructing, and to Brett and Tony for providing the entertainment. A big thank you to Shane and Julia for their hospitality and for running a very professional operation while managing to be very friendly, helpful and flexible.
This is a wreck I’ve been looking forward to diving for many years. It’s one that up until now, I had always missed out on. Today that changed.
The Nippo Maru was built in 1936 as a passenger and cargo freighter. The navy took her over in late 1941 and used her as a water transport. At Truk her role was to carry water from Dublon to some of the outlying islands where water was scarce. She now lies in 30 – 50 metres of water, listing to port.
There is a buoy attached to her bow. We dropped down this line on to the forecastle. Here there was a gun mount, and a large pair of binoculars. There was a huge Napoleon Wrasse swimming along the side of the ship. In hold #1 there were gas masks and a variety of small arms ammunition, along with some big 12cm shell casings. On the deck below the hold is a large truck chassis. The bodywork has rotted away. There is another on the seabed next to the ship.
Hold #2 contains several large water tanks, which look quite like modern 20ft containers. There is a light 2 man tank on the port side of the deck. We swam through 2 levels of superstructure. The top level had a wheel, binnacle and telegraph in excellent condition. Sadly the depth meant we then had to head back to the line on the bow. But we were accompanied by a school of barracuda and a school of jacks. And the inevitable blue fin trevally.
The Nippo Maru certainly lived up to my expectations. Hopefully it won’t be as long before I revisit her.
Nippo Maru
Our Dive
Graphic courtesy of Captain Lance Higgs of S.S. Thorfinn.
Photos courtesy of Catheryn Chu.
Well it wasn’t long before we were back at the Fujikawa Maru. About 2 hours actually, this time for a night dive.
This time we started at the stern gun, before heading into the steerage compartment. Holds #5 and #6 had plenty to see in them, including some sort of switching panel, and there were around 20 x 6 foot tall gas cylinders in hold #4. We headed into the superstructure, which had 5 floors. We went through the bridge, past the officer’s bathrooms and the galley before heading outside.
We finished up on the funnel, where there was plenty of life to see in our torch beams. Another great dive.
Our Dive
Graphic courtesy of Captain Lance Higgs of S.S. Thorfinn.
William Trubridge, a New Zealand freediver, broke his own world record on Tuesday after descending 100 metres propelled only by his arms and legs. There are a number of different free diving categories, and this falls within “Constant Weight without Fins”.
Deeper dives have been achieved by freedivers in other categories. In fact there are quite a number of different freediving categories. For example, a diver can use fins (Constant Weight with Fins), pull themselves down the guideline (Free Immersion), use a weighted sled (Variable Weight), or use a weighted sled and a lift-bag (No Limits).
Congratulations to Mr. Trubridge.
You can read more from the New Zealand Herald.
If you like underwater photographs, you’ll love these. Here are 20 of the best, as chosen by judges in 2 competitions: the Our World Under Water competition, and the Deep Indonesia International underwater competition.
They are on the Telegraph’s website.
This was our first dive this trip on the Fujikawa Maru, many people’s favourite wreck, and it’s certainly one of my favourites. She was built in 1938 as a passenger / cargo carrier, and was originally used to carry raw silk and cotton between South America and India. The navy took her over in 1940 and she was converted to carry aircraft and aircraft parts. She was also fitted with 6 inch bow and stern guns. The guns were actually old guns that had been taken off decomissioned cruisers from the Russo-Japanese war. The front one has a plate showing that it was manufactured in 1899.
Shortly before the Hailstone attack she had arrived in Truk and offloaded 30 B5N2 “Jill” bombers to Eten airfield. These were subsequently destroyed on the ground. The Fujikawa Maru herself was sunk by a torpedo that hit her amidships, and she now lies in 35 metres.
We dropped inthrough a skylight and did a tour of the engine room, including the workshop which was full of tools and machines, including a workbench with a vice on it. We went down to the lower levels before heading out into hold number 3, which contained oil drums. From there we headed into number 2 hold which had aeroplane parts, including 4 fuselages and a lot of propellers. Number 1 hold had a tripod of rifles propped together along with gas masks, small arms ammunition, more propellers, several aeroplane nose cones, and an outboard motor. From there we headed up to the bow gun, and the bow telegraph.
We saw a turtle, 3 different species of nudibranch, small barracuda, tuna and the inevitable blue fin trevally. A very good dive.
Fujikawa Maru
Our Dive
Graphic courtesy of Captain Lance Higgs of S.S. Thorfinn.
Photos courtesy of Catheryn Chu
The Australian media are reporting that a 31 year old Adelaide woman has died while diving off Whyalla on the Eyre Peninsula. She was diving with a companion, when she got into trouble. Despite attempts to revive her she apparently died at the scene. There is unconfirmed speculation that she suffered a heart attack, but a report is being prepared for the coroner.
There is more on the 9News website and at Adelaide Now’s website.
Sonar searches by an Estonian minesweeper, Ugandi, have found the remains of 3 British ships that were part of a squadron that was supporting the Baltic states’ struggle for independence against both German and Soviet invaders in 1918 / 1919.
The cruiser HMS Cassandra was sunk by an uncharted German mine on 5th December 1918 with the loss of 11 of her crew of 400. Two Flower Class sloops, HMS Myrtle and HMS Gentian, were sunk by mines in July 1919 while clearing a passage to try and supply the independent Estonian government with weapons. Nine men were lost.
The ships apparently lie in around 60-100 metres of water near the island of Saaremaa.
There is more information on the Guardian’s website.
We were anchored very close to the Hoyo Maru, and from the Thorfinn could see the shallow water that lies above her. She was a large tanker which was being repaired for torpedo damage, when she was sunk by bombs. She now lies upside down in around 30 metres of water, although she comes up to within 3 metres of the surface. She is actually on a slope so her bow is at around 37 metres. She is almost broken in half, with a very obvious crack amidships. Actually “crack” is a bit of an understatement, “chasm” would be more accurate.
There is a large hole in the stern leading into the engine room (like most tankers, her engines were at the back). We swam around that and into the steerage area. Rita and the guide went a bit deeper into the ship and found a lobster, while Trevor and I headed back outside. We went up over the hull, which is encrusted with hard coral. At the point where the ship is nearly split in two, was a school of 12-15 snapper. There were a lot of reef fish all over the coral on her hull, and a very pretty pipe fish. Oh and of course there was the inevitable school of blue fin trevally.
It was a very colourful site and looks as though it would make an excellent night dive.
Hoyo Maru
Our Dive
