On the 5th of January 1975 at 9.27 pm the MV Lake Illawarra, under the captaincy of Boleslaw Pelc, crashed into the 18th and 19th pylons of the Tasman Bridge bringing down a 127 m span of the bridge and sinking the ore carrier. Today the Illawarra rests on the silt under the bridge in 35 m of water. Light here penetrates down to around 26 m (but a torch is still essential!) which is conveniently level with the ship deck at the bottom of the bridge. The bridge itself spans up to 15 m with numeroues port holes to look into on the way up. The smoke stacks on top raise up to around 10 m. Moving from stern to bow, and with some close examination, the ships radar domes and hoists can be found. The ship itself is home to a surprising amount of marine life including yellow jewel anenomes, crayfish and cowfish.