Fishing Reports

Summer has well and truly arrived in Fiordland - without
our usual mixed bag of spring surprises.  It's been warm,
sunny and settled - great for diving Milford Sound. 

Water temperature quickly rose from our winter low of 12C
and has been fluctuating between 13 and 15C for the last
few weeks.  As a result the viz has been steady at our
average of 10-15m, again this is high for October-November, but
you won't hear any complaints from us!

With a wide variety of 'fiord' dives to choose from and
as all our dive guides are qualified instructors, we cater
for divers of all abilities - no surges, swells or currents
here so it's all pretty straightforward.

We often have a layer of tannin-stained freshwater 'floating'
on the surface of the sea which means we get normally deep water
animals living much shallower - "deep-water emergence" for the
jargon lovers among you.

The main highlight for most divers is the "black" coral which 
actually looks like a fluffy white 'Christmas' tree and usually
grows at 80m or so. On some dives there are just a few spectacular
specimens, up to 4.5m across, while nearer the mouth of the fiord
you'll see hundreds of smaller colonies 1-2m high, starting at 10m
and disappearing away below you down the walls like ghostly white shapes.

We've been seeing spiny sea-dragons quite regularly - these
deep water critters usually live below 200m but exist here
in only 15m.  Also lots of spiny spotted dogsharks, another deep water
fish, that we often see in little gangs of 4 or 5 and up to 12 or even 15!
They often swim in and out amongst us but at only 1.5 - 2m long, and
very elegant, they're a pleasure to watch.

Lots of the usual shallow water fish and invertebrate life, plus
heaps of deepwater species too, and the topside scenery's not to be
sniffed at either - we've got it all right here in Fiordland.

Thanks for reading - we'd love to hear from you so drop us a line.

'Til next time, happy diving and cheers from The Tawaki Team