One of the all time great movie lines, "We’re gonna need a bigger boat!"
One of my favourite past times is to take my little tinny out on Lake Macquarie and spend some time swimming around the sand islands, having a fish at the drop-over, or just putting around enjoying the sun with the geo-family.
The 1st May 2002 marked a big day for the lake, with the cessation of commercial fishing licences. In slightly more than a decade, the fish stocks have increased, and some of the apex predators are starting to return in more numbers to this environment. In some circles, this has caused hysteria, as every fisherman with a smartphone can now upload footage of the sharks they see. It is well known however that the Newcastle/Stockton/Port Stephens region is a nursery for sharks, and it should be no surprise that they are here in the lake too.
This series is dedicated to a range of creatures you might find in the lake if you spend enough time here. I’ve met most of them in recent years, although haven’t come face to face with the two largest… yet! We have lost the odd fish over the years to some cheeky seals though!
The caches in this series are not found at the listed coordinates. I have instead attempted to develop a lake based piece of geo-art.
We’re gonna need a bigger boat #1 – Razor fish (Pinna Bicolor)
Razor fish are large, filter-feeding bivalves characterised by a thin, wedge-shaped shell, which in its normal living position, can range from partial to almost complete burial in sediment. In recent years, the occurrence of razor fish in Lake Macquarie has become a topical issue within the Lake Mac community due to a perceived increase in their numbers within the Lake and the dangers that the sharp-edged posterior margins present to Lake users when walking in the shallows, especially as many of the razor fish are well camouflaged amongst the blades of seagrass. They are not called Razor Fish for nothing! There are as many as between 2 to 5 per square metre in areas around the Morisset Peninsula in particular.
Information sourced from:
http://www.lakemac.com.au/downloads/Razor_fish.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinna_(genus)
So where’s the cache? A little puzzle should help you get there.
The cache is located at S32 59.ABC E151 37.DEF, where:
A = (NSW legal size of Dusky Flathead – Legal Size of Yellowfin Bream – Bag limit of Cobia) + Bag limit of Black Marlin
B = 2 x Bag limit of Aussie Salmon – 4 x Bag limit of Mulloway
C = Bag limit of Bonito – 2 x the number of Red Groper over 60cm you can keep
D = (Legal size of silver trevally / silver trevally bag limit per person) + total Bag limit of all tuna
E = Bag limit of sharks
F = Legal size of sand whiting – bag limit of sand whiting
Please note that these sizing were most recently updated in April 2019 after it was identified that the DPI limits had changed for one of the species. (I will continue to try and keep them updated as NSW DPI inevitably edit their bag limits).
You will need to get your feet wet when you find the cache, and please wear some form of foot wear (did we not just talk about razor fish?). Even at low tide you’ll get wet, so be careful, and secure your footing and your possessions. Please also replace the cache very carefully to keep it safe.
If you are in the area, why not try and connect with some of the local area geocachers? Check out HAVOC on Facebook - the Hunter Area Victims of Caching!
Background image: Colossal Octopus. Pierre Denys de Montfort († 1820) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons