Howies Scuba

DIVES SITES

 Scuba Diving Perth WA

Shore Diving

AMMO JETTY

Woodmans Point - John Graham Reserve - South Fremantle WA

• Take the path on the right at the top of the car parks and follow until you see the jetty, approx. 3 minute walk. If you need to cool off before hand or rinse off on the way out there are showers on the path just before the beach.
  
  
• Head onto the shore, if you have forgotten to do this earlier do all your final checks: B (BCD): W (WEIGHTS): R (RELEASES):  A (AIR):  F (FINAL).
 
• Left side of the jetty is shaded and the right side has more of the sun during the morning. If you think about it going in on the right with the sun behind you will improve the light available to you, and wont be directly in your eyes.

 SITE INFO:

• Shore Dive: Jetty Dive.
  
  
• Depth: Max 9 meters.
  
  
• Dive-able jetty length: Approx. 100 meters.      
  
  
• The Vis...... perfect day 5 - 6 meters (rare)....... poor day 1 - 2 meters...... average 3 - 4 day. (I have had an exceptionally good day with vis of 10 + meters, and an exceptionally poor day with vis less than 0.5 meters, but only once.)
  
  
• The photographs below give you an idea of the visibility at Ammo.
  
  
• Poor: Andy A and I dived here after a period of high winds and roughish seas. When we descended you could not see more than 0.5 meters in front of you, a little deeper and a little bit further along the jetty the vis cleared up to about 2 meters max (maybe I am being a bit  generous).
  
  
• The Worst: I dived here on Easter Sunday 2011 and I have to say that this was the worst vis I had ever encountered at the Jetty, even worse than just your average poor day. The waters had been rough, with a large swell and the water was as black as night with so much particles being stared up, the vis must of been 0.5 meters at its best spot, if we were lucky. That said a great day, we did I giant stride off the jetty, there was about twenty of us and the video of it is fun. And as it was the annual Easter Egg Hunt I was lucky to win first prize after finding lucky egg No# 15.
  
  
• The Best: On this day this was beyond what you would class as a perfect day. It was outstanding, I have never seen it so clear, the vis was 10+ meters maybe even 15+, unbelievable, what made it more amazing is that I had been there the day before and we only managed 1 meter vis.
  
  
• Average: Andy S ( Father-in-law) on this day the visibility was quite good, getting close to the average 3 - 4 meters.

• Ammo Jetty is a perfect little shore dive, easy to navigate, so great for the novice diver,  all you have to do is follow the pylons up one side and, when you get to the end just come down the other side. Most usually go clockwise, entering the jetty on the south side or the left, however I think the best way is to enter on the right or the north side. Entering this way gives you the sun behind you and reduces some of the glare that can be quite startling especially in the morning when you make your way back up the jetty. Following an anti-clockwise path will put you in the shaded side on your return along the jetty. 
  
  
• Ammo can get busy at times as it is regularly used for training new divers or, for those who are doing a refresher course. Many don't bother but you should, as good practise bring a dive flag.
  
  
• The main concern with this shore dive is from the people fishing on the jetty above, as fishing lines can drift under the jetty depending on the current. Also if you stray outside the pylons on a calm day the potential for getting caught up on fishing lines or getting snagged on a fishing hook still remains.  However when there is no-one fishing on the jetty your chance of getting caught on a fishing line or snagged on a hook........ that's right........ still remains. There is a lot of fishing tackle debris under the jetty and a broken or discarded fishing line is easily swam into.  Have a look at my Dive Buddy Andy A (top left) taking five on a discarded fishing chair.  
  
  
• Local dive shop Dolphin Dive in Fremantle do an annual clean up of the site and if memory serves me correctly they filled up twelve garbage bags (possibly bins) of debris. Don't let this put you off, I have dived this site plenty of times and I have only got caught up twice. With a calm head, patience and a little bit of unwinding, this will usually set you free but, it doesn't hurt to have a small dive knife with you.... If it becomes too difficult for you to manage just get your buddy to un-snag you.  
  
  
• Ammo Jetty is a macro site, if you are looking for the big, the chances are you wont find it here (apart from the time I was molested by a 2 meter Ray on a night dive). We have had Sea Lions and Dolphins here, but very rarely. That said there is an abundance of life in all the nooks and crannies so take your time and have a good look. Don't forget to have a look at the top part of the pylons further down the Jetty, these can be missed as you spend lots of time near the bottom. Remember, as its a shallow dive you should get plenty of bottom time.  
  
  
• Talking of bottoms, Ammo has a silty rubble bottom so try your best not to stir it up with your fins, the best way is to stay approx.1 meter above the bottom and use slow shallow kicks. Like I said earlier this is a macro site so there are going to be times when you need to get down on the floor and dig around. If you hit the bottom and plumes of silty sand explode in your face take a moment it will eventually settle.
  
  
• Ammo will have some protection from Woodmans Point Groin, Carnac and Garden Isl from most things coming from the SW. If the seas, swell and wind are high a lot of this protection is lost as the jetty is right on the shoreline, not like say Robbs Jetty which is 100 meters out from the beach.
  
  
• Generally keep the swell no higher than 1.5 meters and a swell period of approx. 11.5 seconds, with low winds preferably from the east. I have dived in slightly worse conditions and still had a nice dive. Usually with a northerly wind you will have current wanting to push you across the jetty and westerlies will increase the effects of swell.

LIFE UNDER AMMO JETTY

CRESTED MORWONG:

• This school of Crested Morwongs (Right) was taken in April 2010 and was the only time I have seen such a large school at Ammo. At best Crested Morwongs' move in pairs or very small schools of a few fish but, generally are solitary fish.

 LEATHERJACKETS OR FILEFISH:

• (Left) This is a Fan Bellied LeatherJacket. When I saw this for the first time I did a double take, as it wasn't really swimming but kind of floating past. It was so flat and was closely hugging one of the jetty pylons', up against the background of the pylon made it virtually invisible.
  
  Unfortunately I had missed placed my Buddy so I was trying to catch up, I just quickly snapped a couple of pictures as I wasn't too sure what it was and hoped for the best, got the camera home and luckily enough got a nice little picture. I have seen plenty of these since this photograph was taken both here and at other dive sites around the Perth area.
  

• (Centre) This mottled tangerine fish I had struggled to identify for a long time, I thought it maybe part of the Tasselled Filefish family but it is actually a colour variation of the Fanbelly, you will see plenty of these at the jetty.
  
  
• (Right) This is a beautiful little Pygmy Leather Jacket, they are approx. 10 cms long. This has not been a common sight at the Jetty and I have only seen it on 2 occasions.
  

BOXFISH:

• A common sight at Ammo Jetty is the Boxfish. these fish have such wonderful and varying colours. The Boxfish is a little cautious and wont let you get too close, not that they swim particularly fast, that said if you approach them slowly and make no attempt to disturb them you can usually get pretty close and get a nice picture or two.
  
  
  
• Boxfish will eject a small puff of air to expose its food, so watch carefully when its nibbling at the seabed. Apparently all Boxfish have the ability to release toxins into its environment when threatened by a predator. This is also one of the reasons they hard to keep and breed in an Aquarium.

TOADFISH:

• When you first descend at Ammo at about 2 meters you will usually see a large group of Banded Toadfish (Photograph 1). That said, if you cant see any, don't think for one second they are not there, these little guys like to bury themselves in the sand, if you get close enough or disturb the sand they will dart out of their hiding place and give you a firm stare (Photograph 2).
  
  
• (Photograph 3) Close up of a posing Banded Toadfish, feel the fear as these little guys fear nobody, apparently Banded Toadfish can be a little aggressive, that said none of them have taken me topside and beaten me up......... yet.
  
  
• I joke about being beaten up by a Toadfish, but they would most probably win in a fight as they are related to the puffer fish used in the Japanese delicacy "Fugu", puffer fish have a deadly neurotoxin known as Tetrodotoxin (TTX). Each year there are several fatalities in Japan due to eating this delicacy that has not been prepared correctly.

• On the bottom right is a Ringed Toadfish (see the ringed patch around its pectoral fin). I have only ever seen one of these at the jetty and only ever taken one picture and this is it. I have seen a couple at Robbs Jetty and seen other peoples pictures of these at the jetty but I am unsure of how common and how abundant these fish are.

 FLAT HEADS:

• Can you see it...... I would of swam straight passed these two little fellas due to their tricky camouflaged appearance, however my wife had her bionic vision working on that day and picked up loads, including these two. I think these are Spiny Flatheads aka Midget Flatheads.
 
• This is the reason why you need to, slow down, take your time and try not to stir up the bottom at this site because, any clouds of silt would of easily obscured these guys.

 NUDIBRANCH:

• Nudibranchs....... I haven't met anyone who does not love Nudibranchs, the colouring is fantastic, but my favourites are some of the unusual ones you get to see, especially the warty type.

• At Ammo there are loads of Nudis' especially, Ceratosoma brevicaudatum (2nd set above) this is the most common Nudibranch you will see, however this is not the most common Nudi in Perth waters, that strangely enough goes to one that in all the time I have spent diving here, I have only seen twice (very strange).

• A fascinating fact about Nudibranchs is that they digest poisons from its dietary intake and then utilise these poisons as part of its own defence mechanism, brilliant.

OCTOPUS:

SPONGES:

• Sponges....... I have looked and looked and looked at sponges in numerous books and for the majority of them I find it near impossible to identify which one is which. This is due to needing to know what type of internal structure each sponge has and other biological thingy - me - jigs, so I have found it a bit hard to classify as I don't take my scalpel, biology kit and microscope with me under water any more as it disrupts my buoyancy.
  
  
• So in a nut shell I just think they create some brilliant shapes.... enjoy and let the inner child in you search out some fun shapes.
  
  
• Check out the Creature Feature section of this website to see some of the sponges I have been able to identify.

OCTOCORALS:

Carijoa sp.1

• I mentioned earlier about how much fishing line debris there is about the jetty, well as you can see the Jetty Octocoral here (Photograph 3) appears to have formed along a piece of fishing line making a nice little picture, but debris none the less.
  
  
• If you are doing a shore dive at Ammo it is not uncommon for the local divers to clean up some of the debris during their shore dive and discard of it properly on the way out. So don't be shy if you see something that can be taken away and placed in the bin please do so. I have known people to even get new fishing rods at Ammo that have fallen in so, you never know maybe an early Christmas present for someone you know.

CRUSTACEANS:

• Common to Ammo Jetty are Crayfish also known as Western Rock Lobster and the Red Bait Crabs and I have seen them on every dive at the jetty, especially down at the far end.

• If you are thinking about taking a few Crays, I have been told you need to have a license, I have no idea where you get these from or how much they cost. But be aware that I have been questioned by the local Police both here and at Robbs Jetty whether or not I was going Craying, so check it all out before you decide that Crays are going to be on the menu tonight, it may be cheaper to go to a local seafood restaurant and there are loads around the area:  Here is a link to: Department of Fisheries you may get some additional information from them.

• Other Crustaceans at Ammo Jetty: From top to bottom and left to right, Blue Swimmer Crab , Hermit Crab, Pink Swimmer Crab, Hyastenus elatus, Schizophrys Crab and a Smooth Pebble Crab.

STARS:

• Loads of them..... I like the wavy grub fish having a rest on the star on the right, looks like they are having a snooze on a giant pillow.

WORMS:

• Who's got worms ?.........
  
  
• (Left) is a flat worm, this is the only type of flat worm I have seen at Ammo Jetty, I have several pictures of different flat worms with similar markings.
  
  
• (Right) is a Feather Duster Worm, these are quite beautiful when you get up close to them. If you approach slowly and, give them a gently brush or disturb the water surrounding them you can watch them speedily shoot back into the tube, they're lightening fast. Then take a minute afterwards and watch its feathery fans slowly appear and unravel.

• What ?............... did you think I would leave you without showing you the Dolphins...... shame on you...... These beauties photographed as the end of the jetty on the north side, as they were being fed by the fisher-persons..... lasted about 20 minutes..... absolutely brilliant.

Summary

• So get some air..... get wet..... and get down there.

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