Dive report: Green-lipped Mussel Bed Thumb Point, Waiheke Island
The Sea Change Seasketch maps have a huge green-lipped mussel / kutāi bed west of Thumb Point, Waiheke Island. I am particularly interested in this species as I am helping restore it in the Hauraki Gulf.
I dropped down on the eastern (shallow) side of the bed at 8m depth. Although it was low tide the visibility was great at more than 6m. I found a few old dead kutāi shells around the base of some boulders. I then swum west until I reached turn pressure reaching just over 15m depth. The seafloor was shell hash with dog cockle shell dominant. I saw the odd live dog cockle and scallop (it was great to see more juvenile scallops on the other side of thumb point but I did not have my camera for that dive) and one or two horse mussels. There were one or two kutāi shells in the hash but I didn't see any live kutāi the whole dive. As it was low tide I scanned the intertidal rocks for mussels but could see none. There was good kelp coverage with only a few patches of kina barren. Good numbers of sweep, red moki and goatfish on the reef.
Conversely I was very disappointed with the kelp coverage and pleased to see alive kutāi on nearby Horuhoru / Gannet Rock. I circled the island in my boat and had a quick snorkel.
