Black Rocks in Milford
22/3/2017 (617)
Perhaps I should not tell anybody about this dive. I tried a spot in the urban area of Milford. The beach is lovely there, but the visibility is usually close to nothing, the bottom is quite flat, silty and it’s shallow. The weather was great, it was calm and right before the high tide, which improved visibility above average. I followed a rocky platform stretching into the sea in the direction toward Rangitoto Island. After about 20 minutes I simply turned back and swam back to the shore.
The bottom in the tidal zone was what I expected … sandy areas with large black boulders often covered with oysters. Deeper a flat rocky reef followed. It was covered with various sea weeds, mostly brown, but also some green and pink ones. I was quite surprised by the fish life. The usual spotties were everywhere plus there were sweeps, parore and even snapper around. Unfortunately the bigger the fish the greater distance the were keeping. I often saw only silhouettes disappearing in the distance.
Mediterranean fanworm Sabella spallanzanii was also plentiful, in some cases I could see whole ‘families’ attached to the same boulder.
It was a bit boring dive, but at least I know now what to expect there. There is a possibility the place would make a good night dive … a very easy access, close to the road, shallow and with a good public shower.
Slovak
O tomto ponore by som snáď ani nemal nikomu hovoriť. Vyskúšal som jedno miesto v obytnej zóne v Milforde. Je tam pekná pláž, ale viditeľnosť je obyčajne takmer nulová, dno je ploché, plné nánosov a je tam plytko. V ten deň bolo krásne počasie, hladina ako zrkadlo a bolo práve pred vrcholom prílivu, čo vylepšilo viditeľnosť poriadne nad priemer. Plával som popri skalnej plošine, ktorá siaha dosť ďaleko do mora smerok k ostrovu Rangitoto. Po asi dvadsiatich minútach som sa jednoducho otočil späť a plával k brehu.
Dno v zóne prílivu a odlivu bolo také, aké sa dalo predpokladať … piesok s veľkými čiernymi balvanmi často pokrytými ustricami. Hlbšie pokračoval plochý skalnatý útes, na ktorom rástli rôzne riasy a chaluhy, väčšinou hnedé, ale aj zelené a ružové. Množstvo rýb ma celkom prekvapilo. Spotties boli takmer všade, okrem toho tam bolo dosť parore, sweeps a dokonca ja snapper. Nanešťastie čím boli ryby väčšie, tým väčšiu vzdialenosť udržiavali. Často som videl len ich siluéty miznúce za hranicou viditeľnosti.
Na dne bolo dosť červov Sabella spallanzanii, v niektorých pripadoch celé “rodiny” obývali jednu skalu.
Bol to relatívne nudný ponor, ale teraz aspoň viem, čo sa v tej oblasti dá pod vodou čakať. Je celkom možné, že by tam mohlo byť slušné nočné potápanie … je tam ľahký prístup, plytká voda, cesta je pár metrov od pláže a majú tam dobrú verejnú sprchu.
Tidal zone with black rocks covered with Pacific oysters.
School of spotty wrasse above short sea weeds in murky water at Milford.
Family of Sabella spallanzanii fanworm on one piece of rock.
Lonely frond of brown kelp Ecklonia radiata.
Sea weed jungle with tiny bright yellow nipple sponge in the middle.
Sabella fanworms on a rock with prickled eleven-armed sea star and sweeps in the distance.
Bush of dense brown sea weeds.
Shallow water flat rocky platform with short algae growth.
Beach sand with boulders
Beach with black volcanic boulders buried in sand.