Aldermen Islands video

The Aldermen Islands

The Aldermen Islands. Click on photo to be taken to Flickr Set

Had an invite from my friend Greg to go out diving at the Aldermen Islands on Friday, as the weather had been lousy for the last month with a constant hammering from storm fronts I was keen to take up the opportunity while we had a narrow weather gap.

The Aldermen Islands lie approximately 30kms north of the seaside township of Whangamata in the Coromandel.

The Aldermen Group is the remnants of volcanic cone, it consists of four main islands, Hongiara, Middle, Ruamahuanui and Ruamahuaiti.

Many regard the islands as some of the best temperate diving in the world, with the East Auckland Current sweeping past bringing with it various warmer water species that later become established.

We investigated a few spots for a spot of fishing beforehand but sadly lucked out, but marked a very steep and interesting pinnacle that comes up form 50m of water to 8m below the surface.









We will tackle this again on the future when the conditions are clearer and we have a boat person on board that isn't of the hairy variety.




















The first dive was on the northern side of the group at a small islet that we hadn't dived before. The usual suspects but poor visibility limited the options but armed with a 60mm macro setup had a few opportunities with Triplefins and a Yellow Moray eel.

TripleFin

All the photography action was in a small 2m square area, but the shallowness combined with slight surge made macro photography difficult.

Yellow Moray eel

On the surface swim back to the boat Greg pointed out a brown bird following me closely. Not sure who was more curious the bird or me but was extremely tame and a very willing subject.

Northern Giant Petrel

Later research revealed that this was a juvenile Great Northern Petrel, distinguishable from a Great Southern Petrel by the color on the front of the beak.
Their huge nostrils are capable of detecting their main diet of rotting carcasses from several miles away and I can detest when it breathed on me they Stink!

Part of their defense mechanism is that they have will spit an oily stomach substance. Luckily for me this was not needed, fortunately for me as it did have a very strong odor and could have done with a few breath mints.



The next dive up was the most northern main island Ruamahuanui Island. Greg was on the hunt for crayfish and thought they may have been up in the shallows as none were found previously.

Ruamahuanui Island

An amazing difference in the clarity of the water here and I had a great dive enjoying the scattered light rays filtering through the calm sea.

Two Spot Demoiselles

Next dive up was the caves at Hongiora (Flat) Island. This was no camera dive for me as the visibility was lacking. This is a great cave network that has multiple entry and exit points, The cave itself is exposed with a few meters of air covering so if needed can safely ascend to the surface and swim out. The one caveat is that the surge can be quite strong at the rear of the caves even with a mild swell so care can be needed. Afterwards we question the viability of helmets as the rush of being pushed in and out does make you wonder how much protection a neoprene hood really offers if you hit a rock at speed.

A quick stray-line for Greg afterwards while I was de-kitting rewarded him with a nice sized snapper for several dinners.

Another great trip and as always the Aldermen Islands didn't disappoint, the great thing about diving that I find is the unknown around the corner, even a mediocre dive can be turned on it's head by the arrival of an unexpected visitor.

An Underwater Journey

Highlights of 2011 / 12 underwater footage. Shot in Bay of Plenty/Coromandel, New Zealand.

Photo Sets on Flickr

Diadema Reef. Click on photo to be taken to Flickr Underwater Sets

White Island Video

White Island

Diadema Reef, Click on Photo to be taken to Flickr Set

Had a great weekend on the Mount Maunganui Underwater Dive Club's boat Mantra.

White Island is a volcanic island some 50kms out from Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty, due to the open expanse of water and distances involved it can be a long time before you get suitable conditions to venture out. Finally after several months of cancellations the weather was looking good and the trip was a go.

We left Mt Maunganui Bridge Marina on Friday night, arriving several hours later in pitch black darkness at White Island's southern end, the wind was screaming in the bay that was assumed to be protected from the headwind, a bit of steaming around the corner and we found the spot for the night with one other vessel as our neighbor.

An early rise the next morning to a glorious sunny day and calm seas. After a hearty breakfast it was a short steam around to dive White Island Volkner Rocks.
Iain and Tony were keen to have their first real attempt a testing out the boats new sonar recording kit. Whenever traveling over interesting topography the sonar recording device would capture information presenting it on the laptop as 3d map, the more extensively an area was covered the greater the detail enabling you to build up a vast amount of detail over time. Worked great and you could confidently get a lay of the land for targeting areas on the next dive.

First dive up was Laisons Reef, this pinnacle rises up from 150 meters to 8 meters. A huge number of Blue and Pink Maomao.Next up Diadema Reef, Once again large popuilations of Blue and Pink Maomaos, lots of posing Scorpion fish and various moray eels.
The huge numbers of fish life and clarity of the water made for very enjoyable dives. A close watch on the bottom time was needed as the water was so clear it gave a false sense of depth on these pinnacles which rise from very deep water.

Due to the previous dives depths the next dive was in shallower water in a interesting looking area by Little Volkner, A large shallow reef system with undulating boulders with a few Kingfish making their way through various schooling fish. The boulders had a few resident Blue Mokis hanging about.

Three of us were keen to do a night dive, Patrick and I followed Steve's lead, due to his familiarity to the area, sure enough he had us on a nice little tour around the reef's edge to a cave, Apart from the normal suspects I managed to spot a hairy crab, some sort of fast moving mackerel, and some shrimps. On the way back just before ascending came across a plaque that was placed in memory of a diver who was lost in this area a few years back. A reminder about the fragility of ourselves in this alien environment.

The next day it was Homestead Reef, this would have been my highlight of the weekend due the variety of fish life and the large population of Blue Moki happy to let me hang out in their group.

The final dive for the day was Club Rocks before the long haul home. The suit up was interesting as the conditions had deteriorated big time with the howling wind having returned, driving the acidic sulphur from the volcanic plumes from White Island, fair enough Tony wasn't too keen to keep the boat exposed to these elements for too long. After the scattered divers returned to the boat it was time for the long haul home, I spent a large majority of the time at the stern attempting to capture the Bullers Mollymawk albatrosses that were following us back, Not too successful with a full card and the need to keep deleting shots to take the next shot. The birds were very obliging though with multiple flybys.
A great weekend and a thanks for Steve for persevering with the multiple cancellations to see the trip organization thru to the end.

Long Hours and no diving.

Wow a crazy last few months of 16 hour days so diving has unfortunately taken a backseat. Have finally got some breathing space so have edited some video clips. Hope you enjoy them.