Brisbane BSAC dive trip to the Aarhus and the Marietta Dal wrecks, Sunday March 1st 2020
As the threat of the COVID lockdown loomed, a group of eleven Brisbane BSAC divers snuck in a final dive before commercial dive trips were halted as a result of the pandemic. It was a very early start when we grouped at Manly boat ramp to join Brisbane Scuba (Scuba Steve) for the day.
The Aarhus was built in 1875 in Germany and was carrying a cargo of kerosene and general merchandise to Brisbane when it sunk just northeast of Cape Moreton on February 24th 1894. It is archeologically protected and can only be dived with special permission. Some of the divers present had beforehand undertaken the GIRT (Gathering Information via Recreational and Technical Scientific Divers) course. This is a conservation focused, no-impact, citizen-science project which aims to train members to systematically document observable physical and natural features of historic shipwrecks. The plan was for these divers to undertake some surveying of the Aarhus wreck and its surrounds for GIRT, whilst the others undertook a pleasure dive.
The Marietta Dal was built in 1944 in the USA. It was a 7500 tonne liberty ship which sunk, again near Cape Moreton, on May 15th 1950. Both ships fell victim to Smith Rock.
First we dived the Aarhus, now sitting in 20 metres of water. We saw lots of big wobbegongs, cod, moray eels, a leafy frog fish and several lionfish. The GIRT divers took photos and videos to be used for photogrammetry. They also took various measurements and charted fish life whilst exploring the wreck. Visibility was reasonable at 8 – 10 metres and the water temperature was warm, 27 degrees at depth.
The second dive on the Marietta, in shallower water (13 metres), had great visibility (15 – 20 metres) and was lovely and warm at 28 degrees. Parts of the wreck were clearly visible and provided excellent hiding places for stonefish, nudibranchs, cray fish and batfish amongst others.
Thanks to Scuba Steve for the onboard BBQ and bounteous food and drinks.