HMAS Adelaide goes under after dolphin display delays scuttling

A pod of dolphins delayed the scuttling for almost 90 minutes this morning, after more than a year of battles between the NSW government and environmentalists over whether to turn it into a dive wreck off Avoca Beach on the central coast.

At 11.50am a flare was let off and the decommissioned warship quickly sank about 30 metres.

The ship - which served in war, rescued asylum seekers and saved solo round-the-world yachtsmen Tony Bullimore and Thierry Dubois - will now be home to sea creatures.

Terrigal Dive Centre's Byron Potter, who has dived through many wrecks, said the ship would soon be covered in bright green algae, and be filled with molluscs, barnacles and fish.

There she goes ... the detonation on HMAS Adelaide that led to her sinking. Photo: Nick Moir

 

"It will be this really evolving beautiful eco-system," Mr Potter said.

Even underwater, the history of the ship will come to life, with many of its corridors and compartments preserved in the darkness.

"It will be like a big adventure maze," Mr Potter said. "You do get a very large sense of how hard it would be to work on some of these ships.

The sky's the limit for protesters. Photo: Nick Moir

 

"With the scuttle wreck, it's a beautiful, gorgeous end to her life. It basically becomes this really nice dive.

"Hundreds of servicemen over the years have worked on this vessel protecting us. You'll get this really great sense of  'this is what it was really like'."

The NSW government anticipates the site will be open to divers in about a week, once the ship has been deemed safe.

The dolphins get up close to the bow of HMAS Adelaide. Photo: Nick Moir

 

Divers will have to buy tickets to explore the ship themselves or go through dive companies, but the ticket price has not yet been set.

Group loses battle

The No Ship Action Group failed to halt the sinking over their environmental concerns yesterday, in the end of a battle that dates back to late 2009.

The pod of dolphins passes HMAS Adelaide off Avoca before the scuttling operation today. Photo: Nick Moir

 

The group filed a summons at the Land and Environment Court, addressed to NSW Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson and NSW Environment Minister Robyn Parker, but the scuttling went ahead.

Protesters attributed the presence of the dolphins to a local Aboriginal elder, Lila Kirby, who performed a whale calling ceremony on Sunday. Ms Kirby said the dolphins were making a statement.

"I've got nothing to do with it now," she said. "I've let them go to do what they want to do. This is their turf and this is their land."

The dolphins only metres away from the doomed warship. Photo: Nick Moir

 

A federal judge approved the sinking last year but imposed stringent conditions.

The ship was scuttled by allowing a controlled flow of water to inundate the vessel through holes cut above and below the water line.

There were 16 so-called "cutting charges" in the hull below the water line, which were detonated, forming liquid copper to cut through the steel hull and allow water to flood into the ship.

Spectator craft wait for the scuttling off Avoca Beach. Photo: Nick Moir

 

Around the beach, local businesses were buzzing with crowds who had come to see the sinking.

Tracey Boxsell from The Point Cafe said staff at the 80-seat beachfront eatery were happy to be "inundated" with customers.

But it wasn't such a jubilant morning for everyone.

Final journey ... HMAS Adelaide was towed out of Sydney Harbour on Monday. Photo: Nick Moir

 

Jeremy Moses, who was filming the protesters on the beach, said children began slowly banging drums as the ship sank, marking an emotional moment.

"A lot of people were kind of hugging their loved ones and crying because for them it was the end of a long process."