I’d previously been told about some good territory located off the beach at Stratham, which is about halfway to Bunbury as the crow flies. So today I ventured there, and while I could have driven on the beach to get to the spot I opted for a walk. After all being on holiday I’ve got heaps of free time so there was certainly no need to rush to get there. In a way I’m happy that I did, as the beach seemed to be like a highway. Cars heading in both directions some with families, some out fishing, and others towing boats. Some even driving just to take their dog for a walk driving down then kicking the dog out and then driving back, so as they sat in the comfort of their car their dogs ran alongside:
Over the last few days it feel like the wind has been picking up so in a way I was risking it by coming here. It felt a more exposed beach with longer bays and less headlands, but also a much lower dune protecting it from the wind off the land. The water wasn’t looking great Also while it didn’t seem to impact the water colour, as I walked the colour of the beach shifted from brilliant white to black. There was also more weed floating about here, and as I approached the point there were piles of sea wrack as well as cars. Still after driving 20km and walking in for 1km I was committed regardless of the conditions. As I kitted up and went in, it certainly didn’t start well and was pretty murky:
Early on, and as soon as I hit the reef proper, I came across a school of small silvery fish darting quickly this way and that. I’m guessing they were Elongated Hardyhead. There seemed to be a bit of a swell. No more than what I had experienced at my local beach according to the swell forecasts and records, but for some reason it seemed to have a bit more oomph to it here. One reason may be due to the shallow nature of the reef forcing all that energy to be channelled through a narrow column of water. In places it was too shallow to even snorkel across and I had to be careful not to get grounded, as the water surface went up and down with the swell:
As I had walked to the area and as the reef was so shallow it was obvious where I needed to go. Beyond the reef there were a heap of buoys bobbing about on the water. I guessed cray pots, like the one above that I assume had been lost in a storm and now seemed wedged in a cave, and that was my initial destination. My guess being that the reef dropped away there into deeper water and with luck I might come across an abundance of fish life out there. The theory of the reef was correct but not the fish life, as I approached the edge the impact of the swell intensified making the last stretch that bit more dodgy. I had to at times cling onto the reef to stop being pushed this way and that. And on arrival the visibility in the deeper water did not look inviting. So instead I headed back staying in the relative shallows, here at least the water seemed clearer and I was spotting more fish life:
The very occasional shoal of Western Pomfred, Southern Silver Drummers, and I assume Elongated Hardyhead came and went. But my interest was in watching the weed, I would briefly spy the flash of colour as something different would dart for cover. Too fast for me to capture, but I did have a bit more luck with the above Herring Cale. A bit like a Willy Wagtail that will fly ahead and wait for us as we are out walking, this fish did the same going ahead and hiding then coming out again and repeating the pattern. While the reef was shallow there were caves and holes in it. I’ve said before and not ashamed to say again that I’m pretty useless at holding my breath, so normally wouldn’t venture into these:
But today armed with my wetsuit and weights I did have a bash at a couple. The weights meaning I good get down without using so much energy, but despite that it was certainly pretty eerie going through them. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel but never quite know where the opening will be big enough to resurface, or indeed if the walls will close in just that bit too much to squeeze through. One thing is for sure it forces you to control yourself and keep calm, especially when you would normally be wanting to escape upwards due to your brain telling you that you are running out of air but you really aren’t:
These caves didn’t offer up many more fish, the expected Brown or Orange Wrasse and Banded Sweeps, but the sides did provide protection for some cool looking sponges like the one above. There were a few others, some of which I have shown you before but I still went down several times to get some good images to provide a bit more variety, and add to my collection, on QuestaGame! Not put off by the swell and generally murky conditions I pottered about and was rewarded, as this cuttlefish appeared below me. Not wanting to disturb it or frighten it way I didn’t go down to check it out straight away, and as such I only saw it briefly before it went under a rock shelf:
That is when I duck dived down to see it disappear into a dark recess. I thought well at least I saw it, and then it popped back out. So too followed it, staying at the surface observing from above. It continued to check out caves and rock shelves popping back out each time. As we came to a place where the reef shallowed it came up towards me and within half an arm’s length. After that and as the water became deeper I started to dive down to swim alongside it, and on occasion go down ahead of it so it would swim towards and past me. It never darted off but seemed to have a set direction it was heading, allowing me to get a heap of images and of course some cool videos that are linked below:
I followed it out through a deeper gap in the reef and into the deeper water, where I found myself right by the buoys that I had originally intended to get too. The cuttlefish drifted from sight and after checking out what the buoys were attached too, which seemed to be just a mooring stations for boats. I slowly headed back drifting this way, feeling pretty stoked. Back on the beach the number of cars parked at the point had doubled, so I was quick to pack up and walk back down the beach as yet more cars passed me in both direction:
Sandbagged 