Lisa was keen to see if the whales were back in action between Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse and Dunsborough. She is happy to kick back are stare out into the big blue, whereas I tend to get a bit fidgety and need to be a bit more active during my searches. However, a short video taken by one of the Peppy Plungers on Friday showed a whale playing about for well over half a minute splashing all over the place. As such my interest was piqued, and we headed out mid-morning hoping that the whales would again be out having fun:
I of course took a backup plan with me, and as luck would have it the ocean was relatively calm. So leaving Lisa to scour the ocean for signs of life breaking the surface, I pulled my wetsuit and snorkel gear on and went to search for life underneath the surface. I can’t recall having been in the water in October before, and my image library indicates that could be right on that front. My local snorkelling season usually starts in November, I say that as when we have been holidaying up north the waters can be clear and warm enough year round:
The main reason for my snorkel season starting later in the year is however due to the waters of Peppy Beach taking ages to clear up. They are also quick to churn up when a larger swell comes in, so you need a reasonable length of settled ocean conditions. On this stretch of the Geographe Bay coastline, further to the west, there are no major waterways dropping fine sediments into the ocean. And the coarser bed sediments settle far quicker and so the water can be reasonable even in winter, and today it was lovely and clear:
I did wonder if it would feel cold, but was pleasantly surprised. The initial shock was over quickly, and despite staying in for between half to three quarters of an hour I didn’t even have a chill when I came out. So why have I not started earlier before, round these parts you may ask. Simple, it seems like too much effort to drive all the way round the coast just for a snorkel. Maybe my logic is a bit skewed and I should make more of an effort, as while the whales were quiet the fish today were out in big numbers:
There were heaps of species, but nothing stood out as particular new. I did however like the above Bluespotted Goatfish (Upeneichthys vlamingii), which allowed me to get close. They can have a huge colour diversity. Even the brown snout to tail band is only found on some specimens. Some are also able to rapidly change their colour, and can be found to be more brightly coloured at night. And while all the fish were easy to identify, I’ve rediscovered the huge amount of time I can waste trying to unsuccessfully identify some other finds:
Such as the above sponge. Back on shore Lisa had not had any success, which we thought may be due to all the weekend ocean traffic. Boats and jet skis were all over the place, and some seemed to be honing. Then way out and just briefly a whale came up for a breathe, and was then gone. Undeterred we moved a little further up the coast and with less ocean traffic we had a bit more success. Spotting what may have been a mother and calf making their way northwards. There was no tail or fin slapping, and no breaching but it was nice to see them:
Sandbagged 