5 March 2023 – CLEAN-UP AUSTRALIA DAY
This event was put in place to occur on the same day as Clean-up Australia day as it is a favourite snorkeling and hang-out spot for a lot of people. At 8.00am on Sunday the 5th we expected lovely weather for our visit to the Omeo wreck in Coogee. We brought our snorkeling gear and plastic bags, and gloves to pick up any rubbish on the foreshore.
I googled for some information on this popular site and in summary the Omeo wreck is located very close to the shore at Coogee Beach, mostly submerged and literally covered with marine growth. Anybody interested in the maritime history of the wreck can navigate to the WA Museum website. It has some interesting information.
Last year we had 16 people participating in this excursion but this year we only had 4 people turning up, plus two members who managed to come very late, after we had already left for a cuppa. We didn’t snorkel for very long as there were many people, the water wasn’t very warm and was progressively becoming murkier with stirred-up sand. It was also very low tide with some of the wreck exposed above the water. We did find the most commonly observed fish again: schools of Western Striped Grunter (Pelates octolineatus) feeding on algae on and around the wreck, the convict-fish or stripey (Microcanthus strigatus),the Brownspotted Wrasse (Notolabrus parilus) blending into the background of the algae-covered wreck, and Old Wife (Enoplosus armatus). A surprise find was the Western Smooth Boxfish (Anoplocapros amygdaloides) and a group of Weeping Toadfish (Torquigener pleurogramma) feasting on a dead fish.
When we got out of the water and had warmed up a bit, we did a quick walk around to pick-up any rubbish and deposited it in the nearby bins. I do not recall seeing these bins last year so it is a welcome addition to this popular snorkeling location. Then we went for a cuppa before heading our separate ways home.
Jolanda Keeble
Photo credits:
Western Smooth Boxfish and Weeping Toadfish – Alan Keeble
Brown-spotted Wrasse, Old Wife and Western Striped Grunter– Jolanda Keeble