Second dive at this spot, first report here https://blog.shaunlee.co.nz/tubeworms/
25 March 2023
1hr before High Tide
Some current
Vis 1.5m
Depth 29.4m
Shane Kelly and I descended closer to the mussel farm this time, near an anchor block. We then headed in the direction of the previous dive at this location. Vis was great on the surface but dropped fast to around 1-1.5 m. Conditions were great, no wind or chop, not much rain recently, perhaps the very high / low tides may have been a factor as well as the summer storms. We only had about 20 minutes on the bottom. We found multiple mounds, some quite large but not as big or dense as the ones we found on the first dive. I was not able to find any obvious Scarlet tubeworms (Galeolaria hystrix), but I did see other tubeworm species. I was particularly pleased to find multiple clumps of bryozoans which I did not find last time. There were a few ascidians I did not recognise.
Two different clumps. Many around. Looks more like Cinctipora elegans but that would be a big range extension.
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