Dive 1 Flagstaff:
Today it was rough outside the Heads. The waves we saw were flanked by streaks of green glass rising to a zenith. Those peaks then subsided into a trough followed by yet more waves. Each successive wave rudely disorganised the previous one's patterns of swirls and colours of old toy marbles. It was pleasing to look at but it rudely disorganised our plans as well. Those same sea conditions proved, however, to be an excellent reason to rediscover and explore Flagstaff. Especially since we had not visited this site for some time. Flagstaff is an underrated dive site, a dive site replete with innumerable gems.
Moored above the reef, we headed south underwater to the sand line. From there we followed the wall, stopping again and again, to inspect this or that bump, crevice, overhang, or other spot. On each occasion there were plenty of things to discover.
A Wobbegong was semi secreted into a Wobbegong sized slot, half way up the reef wall; looking more closely, we saw another Wobbegong shark, this one inserted even more deeply within that crevice - for Wobbies this was clearly the place to be. Closer to the sand line, a solitary Reaper Cuttlefish, maintained a vigil atop a small boulder. It demonstrated extraordinary camouflage colour and pattern changing ability. Reaper Cuttlefish are normally found in pairs, so something was amiss here. Going from one extreme to another, we moved from the small Reaper Cuttlefish to a big Giant Cuttlefish in a cave-like recess nearby. Something was amiss with him as well. It barely moved or acknowledged our presence although it too showed off camouflage patterning and colours as an excellent defence from predators. Looking at this torpid Giant Cuttlefish one could not help but remember that a male Giant Cuttlefish usually expires soon after sex: some would call this a conundrum.
Travelling further along this section of reef, we were able to now see an amazing number of sponges. Those sponges exhibited a wide array of textures, shapes, sizes, and colours. Some were shaped like dreadlocks, others perfectly shaped bowls, and some were shaped like hands - which unsurprisingly are called "Hand" sponges. Amongst these colourful sponges, we also saw Sea Tulips, also in a number of different colours. The most amazing thing about these is that they are, in fact, an animal, despite their name and despite looking like a plant.
We changed direction and were now surveying the higher sections of reef. Here we found another Giant Cuttlefish, this time, one in robust health. It was friendly and followed us for part of our return leg back to the boat. Accompanied along this trip by both the Giant Cuttlefish (at least for part of the way) and by schools of fish, was an exhilarating way to finish off this dive. So good was this dive, some divers asked if we could stay here for our second dive!
Dive 2 Clifton Gardens:
As tempting as it would have been to do a second dive at Flag Staff, our quest to see as much variety as possible, and to discover new things, caused us to seek out a different dive site. With so many potential sites to be explored and so much rarely seen underwater, we deviated from our direct route to Chowder Bay in order to scout out other locations. Unwittingly, we were now looking at diving a site where the Japanese Midget submarine, M-27, had become entangled in an antisubmarine net. For two to three hours, the submarine tried to free itself before the crew realised this was not going to happen and they then fired demolition charges destroying both the submarine and themselves. Two other midget submarines did manage to penetrate the harbour's defences with one of those submarines being depth charged repeatedly in nearby Taylor's Bay. The following day, it was found with its engines still running and its propellers slowly turning. The third submarine, after firing its torpedoes to deadly effect, managed to escape the harbour. In 2006, that same submarine was found off the Northern Beaches by recreational divers - so you never know what you will find underwater whilst scuba diving here in Sydney!
As a quick aside, it should perhaps be noted that Clifton Gardens and Mosman were a sort of hotbed for WWII enemy activity - not only with the aforementioned enemy submarines: "Nazi super spy", Annette Wagner, lived in a Clifton Gardens mansion called The Manor, and hosted a radio program. On the eve of World War II she supposedly used her radio program to transmit secrets to the Nazis. Her espionage work did not stop there. The Australian National Archives still holds a large security file on her. Meanwhile, also in Mosman, a couple of Japanese spies lived there as well as senior members of the Nazi party. The Australian military also had (and still has) a presence in Chowder Bay / Clifton Gardens. This was the backdrop for our next dive.
Reaching Clifton Gardens, we entered the water and followed a steep underwater slope, where the depth plunges from about 2 to 3 metres down to about 17 metres fairly rapidly. The odd bit of soft coral appeared, together with other curiosities. A table on its side, was now dressed not in a table cloth, but in a heavy amount of marine growth - disguising its origins. Further along, a large container open at one end, revealed it stocked with champagne glasses, some of which were spilling out - evocative of a celebration gone awry. Here and there Stingarees, well hidden in the sand, would suddenly spring to life and shoot across our path. Given the speed of these creatures, I am inclined to think Neil chose his car based on the similar name, Stinger. I should add here that we also saw some individual Flathead which moved fairly fast as well. "Stinger" is, however, a much better name for a car than "Flathead".
A dream shot for a photographer, came into view when we came across a solitary tin can, guarded by a single Blenny. "Blenny" is yet another inappropriate name - meaning "slime" or "mucous". A fish called "Slimey"? Yet there was nothing slimey at all about our Blenny! It is recorded that:
