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Anniversary Reef Wall

Submitted by scott on Sun, 02/12/2012 - 17:05
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Mopsella zimmeri (Gorgonian) - Anniversary Wall
Heterodontus portusjacksoni (Port Jackson Shark) - Anniversary Wall
Norfolkia clarkei (Common Threefin) - Anniversary Wall
Glossodoris angasi (Angas's Glossodoris) - Anniversary Wall
Cadlinella ornatissima (Ornate Cadlinella) - Anniversary Wall
Chromodoris loringi (Loring's Chromodoris) - Anniversary Wall
Chromodoris splendida (Splendid Chromodoris) - Anniversary Wall
Neodoris chrysoderma (Chrysanthemum Neodoris) - Anniversary Wall
Glossodoris atromarginata (Black Margined Glossodoris) - Anniversary Wall
Seastars, Starfish (Class ASTEROIDEA) - Anniversary Wall
Ralpharia Magnifica (Magnificent Hydroid) - Anniversary Wall
Anniversary Wall - Capnella sp.
Clavelina psuedobaudinensis (Blue-flecked ascidian) - Anniversary Wall

Anniversary Reef is a site off Bateau Bay in the same general area as The Pinnacle and Silver Drummer Wall, dived by Terrigal Dive on the weekend of the 40th Anniversary of the business. Later in 2008 we decided to dive Anniversary Reef as a "drift dive". The Anniversary reef site itself is more of a fish dive as it is quite barren from a fixed growth perspective. On this day we came across the Wall site about 100m away at the end of our dive, so we left the line at the site and marked it on the GPS so we could return.

To call the site a wall is not entirely accurate The reef drops off from ~18m to ~22m but not as a clean wall. It is a series of extremely large boulders, each with deep cracks between them. The boulders step down to the sand at the bottom. The top of the reef is quite barren the bottom is a combination of sand and low lying kelp covered reef. The way the site is structured certainly make it an interesting marine-scape to dive.

Anniversary Reef Wall is well covered in brilliant fixed growth that plenty of critters call home. The area of interest at this site is not enormous so you can take your time to look around, probably explaining why we have seen so many different critters at the site. The depth and dive profile makes Anniversary Reef Wall a perfect second dive.

The fish life you will commonly encounter at this site includes:

  • Small scale Bullseye (Pempheris compressa)
  • White Ear Parma (Parma microlepis)
  • Longfin Pike (Dinolestes lewini)
  • Red Morwong (Cheilodactylus fuscus)
  • Half Banded Seaperch (Hypoplectrodes maccullochi)
  • Yellow-Tail Scad (Trachurus novaezelandiae)
  • Maori Wrasse (Ophthalmolepis lineolata)
  • Eastern Hulafish (Trachinops taeniatus)
  • Sergeant Baker (Aulopus purpurissatus)
  • Old Wife (Enoplosus armatus)

The nudibranch's we've seen at this site include:

  • Ornate Cadlinella (Cadlinella ornatissima)
  • Sweet Ceratosoma (Ceratosoma amoenum)
  • Splendid Chromodoris (Chromodoris splendida)
  • Loring's Chromodoris (Chromodoris loringi)
  • Angas's Glossodoris (Glossodoris angasi)
  • Black Margined Glossodoris (Glossodoris atromarginata)
  • Chrysanthemum Neodoris (Neodoris chrysoderma)
  • Black Spot Jorunna (Jorunna sp)

You will also often find sea spiders, flatworms and other interesting critters at the site.
The GPS mark for this site is S33º23.578' E151º29.834' (WGS84 hdddºmm.mmm'). Seek to anchor at the top of the wall in about ~18m. There is plenty of reef structure on top to set the anchor in. If you would like to explore the Anniversary Reef site, that GPS mark is S33º23.526' E151º29.852' (WGS84 hdddºmm.mmm').