The Great Barrier Reef that runs parallel to the northeastern coast of Australia hides in its waters many wrecks, but none is comparable to the Yongala. The usual image we have of these waters, calm and turquoise, contrasts to a reality not always so placid.
Due to its geographical location it is a common place for storms, and real hurricanes get it. One of these terrifying atmospheric phenomena caused the sinking of our ship.
The Yongala was a steamboat that ran along the coast, following the coral barrier approximately. Its route was from Brisbane, in the south, to Cairns, in the north. It stopped some times on the way picking up passengers and merchandise.
On March 14, 1911, it started one of its journeys commanded by veteran Captain William Knight. The 23rd it left the port of Mackay towards its next stop in Townsville, where it and the 121 people onboard never arrived. The ship could not fight the hurricane in the area and it seems it sunk when the cellars flooded.
The first dive of the Yongala was in 1958
Much was speculated about its whereabouts and various expeditions tried to find it, but the result was the same: nothing. There was no trail of the ship, which contributed to increase the mystery about its disappearance. It was not until 1947 that a navy ship sound some remains in the area, and in 1958 the wreck was reliably located, since its name was read in its port side (nowadays some letters of the original inscription).
With the boom of diving in Australia in the following years, it became soon a symbol of underwater world. It is in this point where converge, inevitably, the various guides and world rankings that are made on the best places in the World. One of the honour positions is always for the Yongala.
Time has made the scene of the tragedy become a paradise for marine life. The wreck is located in a sandy floor 30m deep, lying in its starboard side. It is a wilderness place, so the rusted remains of the boat are a magnet for marine life that finds in desert a place to be.
As we said above, the sinking was apparently caused by massive inflows of water in the cellars, so the ship did not have structural damage but fell entirely to bottom. Time and numerous storms have broken most of the projecting structure such as masts, chimneys, rigging, etc., but the structure is in quite well conditions.
EXPLOSION OF LIFE, FORMS AND COLOR
The abundance of sessile life in a tropical environment as the one in here facilitates an “excessive” colonization. This way, every possible hollow has been occupied by different sort of organisms, especially corals of all kinds, hard or soft, gorgonians of all species. A unique explosion of life, forms and colour that sometimes make us lose the notion of being before a wreck.
Its noticeable length, more than 100m, and the richness of life we have mentioned, make various dives necessary to have some idea of the place. However, its extraordinary value makes that any number of dives is not enough.
If we start a first exploration on the top, we will see that this area is completely covered with corals, hard ones over all. If we fall a bit, we will be in the old deck. Here big shoals of small reef fish abound. They swim among the branches of the gorgonians. To catch them there are always tropical groupers and carangidae lying in wait.
As we approach the bow that still looks the north, as if it kept its original course, the flying of two eagles is interrupted by the swimming of a turtle. We get the remains of the bow, very destroyed by corals developing here thanks to the strong currents passing.
HUGE GROUPERS CROUCHED INSIDE
We come back looking to the mysterious inside of the ship, where some of its bigger specimens are hidden. We can find some huge specimens of potato groupers or giant groupers that, crouched inside, wait for the moment to attack any unsuspecting prey. We can also see here one of its more enigmatic inhabitants: the olive sea snake with deadly venom, but harmless for human being.
Following the journey we get the bottom, territory of enormous rays that rest in the sand. Camouflaged in their element, they tolerate our presence quite a lot, unlike a giant nurse shark that rests in the proximities of the old keel. Some specimens of white tip shark of the reef also patrol the surroundings and, as everything here, their size is much bigger than the average of the species.
The Yongala becomes a unique and incredible dive. It is able to surprise the novel diver as well as the most expert one. There is so much life and it is so varied that in the 107m length of the ship that it seems untrue. The number of species, specimens, sizes surprises at every turn.
Every hole, every piece of iron, has became a microcosms where the whole trophic chain of the Australian reef is represented. Small gregarious reef fish, angel fish, butterfly fish, surgeon fish or clown fish let place to groupers of all kinds, barracuda, rays or sharks. It is a fascinating place that every diver should visit once in life at least.
