East Shoal

城市概覽

The site is seldom dived, as it is far from the nearest launch sites, and relatively close to Seal Island where Great White sharks are frequently seen predating on the Cape fur seals which breed there.

Position 1 East Shoal S34°08.9' E018°38.783', approximately on the top of the reef. This is an offshore site about half-way across False Bay from the Cape Peninsula to the east side, and about 1/4 of the way south from the north shore between Strandfontein and Macassar. There are no landmarks other than the waves which usually break on top of the reef. The reef never extends above the surface of the sea. This site is not in a Marine Protected Area (2010). A permit is not required.

Name The name "East Shoal" is marked on charts of the area, and is descriptive of its position in False Bay. It is the most easterly shallow offshore point in the bay.

Depth Maximum depth is probably about 25 m, and the top of the reef is probably about 2 m deep at low tide. The shoal is noted to break on the SAN charts, and it has been observed to break in a fairly flat sea. Average depth of a dive is likely to be between 15 and 20 m. Surge is strong near the pinnacle.

Visibility Visibility will be similar to other offshore reef sites of False Bay, and is likely to be between 3 and 10 m. This may differ considerably between the surface waters and the bottom, and may be better or worse than it appears from the boat.

Topography The site is an extensive area of sedimentary rock. Some is fairly high profile, walls of several metres height have been seen on the east side, but more often the reef is moderate to low profile, but fairly rugose, as the rock has frequent steps and cracks, and the dip is fairly steep, at about 30°, roughly to the east. Geology: Thought to be Sandstone of the Table Mountain Series, based on visual description and similarity to the reef at Rocky Bank. The rock appears to be of fairly consistent resistance to weathering and erosion. Strike is approximatel

如何抵達

Boat access only. The site is several kilometers from the nearest shore. The site is about 18.4 km bearing 084° magnetic from the slipway at Miller's Point, or 19.3 km bearing 295° magnetic from Harbour Island in Gordon's Bay. It is about 8 km from the north shore of False Bay

必看景點

Marine life

The site appears to be very suitable for echinoderms. There is no obvious reason, but much of the reef is covered by a mat of brittle stars, and other areas have a dense cover of red-chested sea cucumbers. There are also large numbers of Cape urchins, common and elegant feather stars, mauve sea cucumbers, and moderate numbers of other starfish, including Basket stars, Spiny starfish, Red stars, Granular starfish and Reticulated starfish. The fish life does not appear to be very prolific, but Roman, Redfingers, Barred fingerfin, Two-tone fingerfin and puffadder shysharks have been seen, Great white sharks have been reported from nearby by fishermen, but have not yet been seen by scuba divers. Black sponges are common and are associated with an unusual shrimp, which may well be an undescribed species. There is also a variety of neon yellow hydroids not seen on the western side of False Bay. Nudibranchs seem uncommon, despite significant food sources in the form of purple soft corals, hydroids and bryozoans. Other reef life is similar to the reefs of the east side of False Bay and includes moderate numbers of Sinuous and Multicolour sea fans, a few Palmate sea fans, a fair variety of sponges and colonial ascidians, a few species of sea squirt, including large pods of "red bait", hydroids, bryozoans and anemones. Very little seaweed other than crustose corallines is to be seen below 10 m.

Photography The visibility is unpredictable, so close-up and macro equipment is most likely to give good results. Particulate matter will cause backscatter when the subject is more than a few cm from the camera lens port, so an external strobe is recommended for photos other than macro and close-up work.

Suggested Routes No specific roures are known. Start deep, around 20 to 25 m, not more than 150 m from the pinnacle, and work your way uphill until the surge becomes excessive, then head away while surfacing, so the boat does not have to approach the breakers too