Underwater Research Group of New South Wales
Presidents Slate
Hi all,
Welcome to the last bulletin of 2024. What a year this has been! When I asked this shark, "how it went?" She replied "Tough...with a ph!"
It began with what may have seemed like the beginning of the end, in quite literal terms. Our bank balance was at an all time low and our boat engine blew. But it has been heart warming and encouraging to see new and old members alike pull together with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for keeping our legacy alive, our boat in the water and our club thriving.
Special thanks goes out to ... here i go again, hope i don't leave anyone off... Joshua, Vishal, Sarah, Jens, new Charlotte, old Charlotte, Hatty, John, Kathy, Pablo, Karolyn, Seb, Pete M, Pete B, and the ever dependable Abbotts plus all the volunteers giving up their weekends to raise funds at Bunnings or put their spare time to work applying for grants.
A special call out to Sarah, Walter and Ann for also raising our club's profile in the broader community.
We've pulled the club bank balance back into the green, and not only replaced a motor but managed to even purchase an extra one thanks to Josh and Kathy.
This year the club has significantly helped raise the impact of the Spot a Shark citizen science project (which focusses on the critically endangered grey nurse sharks), resulting in some exciting developments. The data collected by divers and analysed within the Spot a Shark program has now been named as the official database that will be used in the upcoming "Points to Population" scientific study. This study will focus on the health, sites and population size for the grey nurse shark population in the East Coast of Australia. This study is led by Dr Carley Fitzpatrick and Dr Simon Pierce and will be really important in providing updated evidence to the government to aid in hopefully offering further protection to the shark and its homes. Thank you to all URG members for your help to promote the project and your enthusiasm in joining shark dives.
To round out the year here are some key things to note...
Tuesday 3rd December - This week is the Manly Ocean Lovers Festival where a number of events will be taking place each day/evening. Sarah from the URG club will be there Tuesday 3rd December (6-9pm) to talk about grey nurse sharks at the Manly Marine Talks, and there are plenty more activities going on too. Learn more here.
Boat dives: With the boat being back in the water more dates are becoming available to go diving so please do join on.
Weedy sea dragons: We are still keen to learn where the weedy sea dragons used to be and where they might be now, to help us work out where to take the boat. Please don't forget to complete the survey if you haven't already which is on our website: https://www.urgdiveclub.org.au/dragons-of-sydney
Next general meeting - on Tuesday 10th Dec, similar to last year we're planning an end of year club dinner and drinks at a restaurant somewhere in the city. Keep an eye on your email for details and venue. Please RSVP using this form: https://forms.gle/EhweCK9JqhP57KaZ8
Looking forward to 2025. Let's make it the best one yet!
Cheers,
Duncan Heuer
Dive Reports
How do they know when to?
by John Swift
Endemic to southern Australia the Weedy Seadragon still has many mysteries, breeding has been one, until recent work by Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in Victoria answered some of these questions.
But how do they know when to have sex, what triggers reproduction. We know it is in early summer, I recently dived at the steps at Botany Bay NSW and five days later under the Flinders jetty at the entrance to Western Port Bay Victoria.
I was lucky enough to photograph two male weedies, one at each site, both with what appeared to be recently laid eggs. See attached photos.
Distance between dive sites 900 Km (as the crow flies, not as a weedy swims).
The Steps, Botany Bay (NSW) - 13 Oct 24 Water 18 c / 10m
Flinders Jetty, Western Port Bay (VIC) - 18 Oct 24 - water 15 c / 6m
Freshness of eggs appears similar at both sites. What can we assume from the above, firstly let me say this is not a scientific document, so probably not much. But here goes anyway, that probably all weedies in Australian waters lay their eggs at a similar time, in early summer. That a 3 deg.C difference in water temperature has not hindered their reproductive drive. That leaves the tides and increased length of daylight hours, these all change in spring and early summer and are probably of most importance. I have not added these.
If you get a chance to dive in Victoria I suggest contacting Mark Green at the Scuba Doctor and dive Flinders Jetty where I saw 12 Weedies in an hour.
Return to SW Rocks
By Michael Abbott
We had fond memories of our last trip with some URG members to SW Rocks, so when a need to get away for the weekend came up we decided to try the return trip. We booked again with Kevin and Peter at South West Rocks Dive and stayed in their accommodation over the shop. These guys run a very efficient outfit with nice large mono-hull aluminium boats. The weather and bar crossings were variable to say the least but the two boats got out both days.
In the old days when we ran the URG boat out to Fish Rock we would rate the bar on the number of "brave pills" required. Lady luck was with us and with these boats no pills required. Well maybe sea sick pills.
The dives were all at Fish Rock with the water temperature 20-21 degrees and viability ranging from 15 to 20+. Viz would have been much better with the sun shining. The moorings and experienced skippers helped as the seas and swell were manageable but a little bumpy. My four dives were the shark gutters, the tunnel, the aquarium and around the west to the drop off to Colorado pass. All dives are guided and we had our own guide. Thanks to John and Joe for their great dive leading skills.
In the cave were many lobster and cowrie shells. We saw Grey Nurse Sharks on every dive with lots in the gutters and some very close encounters when GNS swam up to us. I would estimate that we saw around 30 individuals with males and females of various sizes all represented. Also on every dive were spotted and banded wobbegong.
Highlights were turtles feeding, numerous groper, free swimming greyface moray, a seal, kingfish, tuna, trumpetfish hunting, mullaway schooling, marble rays hovering beside us and an eagle ray circling. We had whale songs underwater and were treated to breaching and fin slapping on the surface.
The diving on the mid north coast is unique in that there is an almost equal mix of temperate and tropical species and we were constantly enclosed in large mixed schools of fishes.
This would be a hard place to do a Reef Life Survey but a great place for spot a shark surveys. I am sure that we will go back.
Member Offer - Toasty Life
by Charlie Elliott
Now that boat diving is back on you may be thinking about how to stay warm between dives - I certainly have been!
I finally clicked 'buy' on a layer I have been eyeing up for some time - a Toasty changing robe. These are waterproof, fleece lined jackets which are ideal for throwing on over your swimmers or wetsuit post swim or dive.
They are a small, female owned, Aussie company and all the materials used are recycled. I've been testing it out after swims, surfs and dives, and even on the occasional dawn walk and it's the warmest I've been!
They have kindly offered URG a discount so if you are keen to copy my style please use URGNSW at check out for $30 off. Give me a shout if you have any questions.
History Articles
Back when the Underwater Research Group ran dive schools ( before dive shops). This one at Cremorne Wharf
1958/59 URG Survey on PJ movements
Upcoming Events
Next general meeting - on Tuesday 10th Dec, similar to last year we're planning an end of year club dinner and drinks at a restaurant somewhere in the city. Keep an eye on your email for details and venue. Please RSVP using this form: https://forms.gle/EhweCK9JqhP57KaZ8
The Dragons of Sydney Program
The Dragons of Sydney Program is led by our URG Sea Dragon Champion. It is a collaboration between scientists from UTS, volunteer divers from URG NSW and supporting organisations including SeaDragonSearch.
Sea Dragons are beautiful, unique fish living exclusively along the southern coast of Australia. They are the koala of the ocean!
During the storms of 2021 and 2022 a large number of weedy sea dragons washed up dead on the shores of NSW. Our club is supporting vital research to understand if the populations are recovering from this event to help inform conservation efforts.
Being involved in this program is easy. You can dive with us and participate in surveys, you can share photos about your encounters of Weedy Sea Dragons with us, and you can share historical or current information about where you have sighted sea dragons. This will help you contribute to tracking these unique animals and supporting efforts to conserve them.
Despite being such amazing fish, very little data exists about where their habitats are (and have been) across NSW, and whether their populations are increasing or decreasing.
In collaboration with scientists at UTS, the club is gathering information on both current and historical data about where weedy sea dragons are (or have been) found in NSW, and whether the number of dragons sighted has reduced since the storms of 2021 and 2022.
Do you have dive logs or a good recollection of how many sea dragons you have seen at various dive sites in NSW?
Regardless of whether you still dive, we would love you to participate in our survey (use the button below):
Dive Log and Oz Diver
Boat Dives
Boat dives are organised most weekends from the St George Motor Boat Club Marina in San Souci. Check https://www.urgdiveclub.org.au/dive-calendar and Facebook for dates and conveners to book onto dives.
Boat handling lessons.
Get in touch if interested
Editors Note
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