SS Yongala - Fish Magnet

Nigel Marsh & Helen Rose · Issue 86, Sep/Oct 2015 · pp. 44–49

Products mentioned: Nikon D90, Ikelite housing, Inon Z240 Strobe, Tokina 10-17mm

Fish, fish and more fish, all I could see were fish! In front of me were vast schools of sweetlips, snappers, cardinalfish and baitfish, while speeding around me were trevally, mackerel and rainbow runners. But the biggest fish of all were the giant Queensland gropers, three of them and all over 2m long! I was just about to explore the biggest fish magnet on the planet, the wreck of the SS Yongala. I first dived the SS Yongala in 1986 and from the very first dive was amazed by all the fish life attracted to this historic shipwreck. Every dive was an education, sending me to the guide books to identify species that I had never seen before. I dived this wonderful shipwreck again in 1989 and 1991 and was once more enthralled by the spectacular fish life, and could see why the SS Yongala is often rated in the top ten dive sites of the world. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to return to t…