Lobster Bonanza

October 10, 2020

My first dive of the season was a crayfish catch. It was a great day for it, the only thing missing was the sun. We got out good and early and had launched the boat by 8:30 am. 

I descended on Thoms Rock to a depth of about 26m and began to hunt.  Nothing. Absolutely nothing for the first 10 minutes. Then I found it, a lobster bonanza!

There they were in a (very large) “bucket” shaped rock formation. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m used to seeing them in warrens and caves under reefs where they can quickly escape and hide from predators. In this bucket shaped rock formation, they had nowhere to go except up.

With that in mind, I opened my catch bag and descended on the nest with the bag above the rock formation to catch any that might try to go straight up. However, once they sensed me, all they did was cling to the side of the “bucket”. 

Now all I had to do was pick the crays off the side. I lost count of how many I was stuffing in the catch bag. In my excitement I burned through my air a little faster than normal. As soon as I grabbed the last one it was time to ascend.

I felt pretty damn good on ascent and the dive wasn’t over. During my 3 minute safety stop at 5m I saw a jellyfish hanging out. It was bioluminescent and lights were strobing up its body. Icing on the cake.

I brought about 20 crayfish back on board. 7-8 were females with eggs so they immediately go back in the ocean. Another 5-6 were on the small side and went back too. That left me with 7. The personal catch limit is 6/day so 1 went to another diver on the boat.

Thoms Rock


Location: Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Statistics


Dive Number:   165
Bottom Time: 25m
Time In: 9:07 a.m.
Tank In:
Max Depth: 28.60 ft
Table Used:
Mix:   Air
Safety Stop: 3m
Time Out: 9:32 a.m.
Tank Out:
Average Depth: 20.50 ft
Start Pressure Group:
 
 
 
 
Surface Interval:  
End Pressure Group:

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Everett Toews
TBT: 216h 37m