Long Island Coast Dive Sites (1/3)

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Shipwreck Acara
Type:
shipwreck, freighter, England
Built:
1898, England
Specs:
( 380 x 47 ft ) 4193 gross tons
Sunk:
March 1, 1902; ran aground in storm - no casualties
Depth:
25 ft

The Acara lies 1,500 to 1,800 ft offshore, in 25 ft of water. She is quite broken up, with wreckage spread over a wide area. Still, there are one or two sections with 10 feet or so of relief. Brass fittings and other artifacts are still being found.


Type:
shipwreck, sailing ship, Italy
Specs:
566 tons
Sunk:
March 4, 1881; ran aground in storm - 1 survivor
Depth:
25 ft

Also known as the Italian Wreck, the Ajace was sunk at 4:00 AM on March 4, 1881. At the time, she was carrying a small cargo of scrap railroad iron and 2,040 empty petroleum barrels. While bound for New York from Belgium, the Ajace was caught in one of the worst storms of the year and ran aground off Rockaway beach. Many sources report that Captain F. Morice, seeing that all hope was lost, opened his private supply of brandy and shared it with his crew. Soon after, the crew became badly beaten from the pounding of the waves and drunk from the brandy.


Type:
shipwreck, steamer, Britain
Built:
1866
Specs:
( 211 x 29 ft ) 639 tons
Sunk:
Monday October 21, 1867
struck rocks in dense fog - no survivors
Depth:
20 ft

low debris field


Type:
shipwreck, barge, mini submarine (?)
Depth:
25 ft

The visibility on this site varies. Average is 10-12ft. This site offers two wrecks which lie in 25 fsw. A British WWI two-man reconnaissance submarine and an old wooden barge. They are both within swimming distance from each other. The marine life is fair around these wrecks. There are a few car tires between the two wrecks and you may find an occasional lobster hiding inside them. To locate the barge take a compass heading of 330 degrees from the pilings located on the east side of Greenwich Ave. It takes about 50 kick cycles to reach the wreck. To get to the submarine take a compass heading of 30 degrees from the same pilings. This can be reached in about 30 kick cycles. Both of the wrecks are not intact but make for a good dive.


Beach Jetties

Dozens of jetties up and down the coast have been cut-though at the base like this one, making them inaccessible to fishermen, but not divers !


Shipwreck Drumelzier
Type:
shipwreck, freighter, England
Built:
1895, England
Specs:
( 340 x 45 ft ) 3625 gross tons, 30 crew
Sunk:
Monday December 25, 1904
ran aground in snow storm, incompetence - no casualties
Depth:
20 ft

The dive site is between 8th and 9th Streets (marker at upper-left)
Atlantic Beach bridge at right, inlet and ocean to the left (west)
In Queens borough, New York City!

East Rockaway Inlet is also known as Deb's Inlet, while New Yorkers optimistically, or perhaps ironically, call the Beach 8th Street dive site Almost Paradise. (Actually the name of a long-defunct dive shop there.) It is also referred to as Beach 9th Street. If that's not enough names for the same place, the waterway is officially called Reynold's Channel. So I suppose you could make six different entries in your logbook.

Beach 8th Street is the only part of the inlet that is accessible to divers, the rest is either private property or state park land where diving is prohibited. You can zoom, pan, and maximize the map above. The inlet is off to the left, marshland to the right, and Kennedy Airport above.



Back broken - beyond salvage
Type:
shipwreck, steamer, USA
Built:
1878, Chester PA USA
Specs:
( 254 x 39 ft ) 1997 gross tons
Sunk:
Thursday February 8, 1900
ran aground in dense fog - no casualties
Depth:
25 ft

Shipwreck Gluckauf
Type:
shipwreck, tanker, Germany
Built:
1886, Germany
Specs:
( 300 x 37 ft ) 2307 gross tons
Sunk:
Friday March 25, 1893
ran aground in storm - no casualties
Depth:
0-25 ft

Long Island Coast Dive Sites

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Beetles are differentiated from bugs by having the first pair of wings developed into armored shields, which protect the second pair of wings and the soft body. They can still fly with their second pair of wings, which fold up out of sight when not in use. Only adults are shown here.

Water Scavenger Beetle

Water Scavenger Beetle
Hydrophilus triangularis
to 1.3"

Adults feed mainly on plant matter; larvae are carnivorous. Other diving beetles are predatory.

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