J4, or Scratchers Sub is by far the most popular mostly due to its depth at 27 meters, but also because it is such a great dive. It’s broken at the torpedo room, with the bow twisted away to port. Like all the others, the bow plating has collapsed, leaving the tubes exposed. It can have an awesome amount of fish on the inside, and I have film of the entire interior filled with bull’s-eyes and pike. Blue devils may be found around the bow section, and there used to be a resident conger eel in the control room.

Because of available bottom time, this is the best sub to study. Most divers have a quick look at the bow section, and then enter the wreck through the break. Light streams in through the deck holes aft.

Making the control room under the conning the darkest part. From there you can make out the two engine bases side by side in the forward engine room, and then the single engine base in the aft engine room. The prop shaft flange is clearly visible at the base of a large bulkhead with a number of hatch ways to the next compartment. Further penetration aft is constricted through crew quarters and steering room to the aft most hatch and should only be attempted by experienced wreck divers with a narrow profile setup.

The hull of the J4 is mostly weed and algae covered, with a healthy growth on top of the conning. There’s always perch and sweep around the conning and plenty of leather jackets around the wreck, but please don’t feed them as they are starting to nip! The wreck sits upright in heavy reef in a roughly north south orientation, which can make it pump with the groundswell certain clays, so it’s advised to wait a while at the entrances to feel for surge before entering.

As well as the famous subs, there are three coastal traders scuttled near Point Lonsdale. The most popular is the SS Coogee, sitting with a 40 degree list to starboard in 33 meters. Built in 1887 at 762 tons, she was scuttled in 1928 near the subs. She’s now mostly collapsed, leaving the bow section, boilers and stern standing above the sea floor. The stern is one of our prettiest reefs, artificial or not! The upper deck has collapsed, exposing the steering quadrant and framework; all smothered in yellow zoanthids and decorated smith sponges. It’s swarming with fish; mostly perch, but also lots of sweep, leatherjackets, svrasse, and queen snapper. Pike cruise just off the wreck and the cave between the rudder and hull is packed with bull’s-eyes and sandpaper fish.

Old wives mingle with bull’s-eyes around the boilers, and usually a blue devil is found in the fireboxes. It’s a short swim over flattened wreckage to the boss; also well encrusted with sponges. Perch play in the deck railings and bull’s-eyes fill the interior. Don’t forget to look under the plating or around the inside of the deck hatches for crayfish feelers, or cuttlefish. The Coogee is a great wreck, or reef dive!

Although very similar in layout to the Coogee, the wreck of the Rotoinahaiza is significantly bigger at 1777 tons, and significantly deeper at 40 meters. Built in 1879, she was also scuttled in 1928, but a bit further west than the subs. Again she’s mostly collapsed, leaving only the stern, boilers, and bow proud of the seabed, though there are more mid-ships to see than the Coogee. Being deeper, she’s not as rich in growth, but not far behind with fish life.

Also scuttled in 1928, the 728 ton excursion steamer SS Courier has become our prettiest shipwreck. Broken into three main sections on a white sandy bottom at 43 metres due south of Point Lonsdale, the Courier has become an oasis for marine life in a sandy desert. Being in line with the in and out flow of Port Phillip Bay, she’s been bathed in nutrients and is richly covered in sponges, ascidians, hydroids, and bryozoans. At times she can be obliterated by schooling fish, and there’s always healthy schools of perch swarming around the stern. Bearded cod dominate around the boilers, and are much paler than those seen elsewhere. This is a place to see the unusual animals, and usually with a spectacular backdrop.

Due to the depth it isn’t usual to see all this wreck in one dive. The bow section lies on its starboard side and is totally encrusted. It allows limited penetration and a flossier will find ceramic tiles in place under the silt. Most decking timber has gone, but only in the last 10 years. Close by are the heavily encrusted boilers with wreckage to either side. Mosaic leatherjackets, cutlets, and bearded cod live here, but big schools of fish like warehouse can also be encountered. The trail of wreckage aft of the boilers leads to the stern, most of which is metal framework covered in white, pink and apricot jewel anemone. The rest is smothered in sponges of all sorts. Some ceramic tiles can also be found Isere.

Several times dolphins have visited us on the deco line; a pod of eight common dolphins once played with us for 40 minutes, allowing Mary to get out of the water to change film, and then rejoin the fun!

The newest addition to our scuttled fleet wills him the 139 meter 4100 tone guided missile frigate, LIMAS Canberra. Scheduled to be scuttled in 2008 in 35 meters, near to the Rotomahana, divers will be able to start their dives at the mast array, making their way down to the gun deck to explore the upper superstructure, or make deep dives past the main deck to the sand. Penetrations will be possible for suitably experienced and equipped divers through the many diver access holes cut into the vessel.

The most popular dive will be to descend down the funnel to the engine room, inspect the huge gas turbine engine and exposed gearbox, then head off into the adjoining auxiliary equipment rooms. From there they can make their way through the mess, officers quarters, and up to the bridge, before ascending the mast to finish their safety stops on the mooring under their dive boat.

Of course there trill be many other parts of the ship to explore on subsequent dives, or just check out the schools of pike, perch, sweep, warehouse, bull’s-eyes, leather jackets, mowing, kingfish, and occasionally snapper which will visit and live on the wreck.