It was a very calm day on Botany Bay and The Leap looked beautiful. The water just off the entry point looked very clear and there was hardly any noticeable swell.
I jumped in from the low platform, descended and swam to the sand line at around 60°. At the sand line the visibility was around 10 metres or so. The current towards The Steps was quite strong and this was picking up some particulate matter into the water column. There was also a lot of kelp on the sand between the rocks.
I headed towards The Steps. I found "Bob", the male pot-bellied seahorse, on the new rock we'd seen him on recently but there was no sign of "Lucy" on the rock or any of the adjacent rocks. I'm not sure where she is and hopefully she'll turn up. "Bob" looked pregnant which suggests "Lucy" impregnated him recently.
I continued on and checked Seahorse Rock for seahorses but found none. I found "Rosie" on her usual rock behind Seahorse Rock. She has been without a partner for some time now. I keep hoping a new male will turn up for her.
I looked for "Max", the orange painted angler, but could not find him. I swam on to the next load of seahorses and found "Southern Cross" immediately. I could not find "Pierre" or "Richie" initially and looked for over 10 minutes before I finally found "Pierre" hidden very close to "Southern Cross". I could not find "Richie" at all.
Further along I found an old giant cuttlefish that looked in a bad way It's feeding tentacles were hanging down and it had missing flesh in various places. Nearby I found 2 weedy seadragons swimming together. I continued along the sand line to the basket star and didn't see anything of interest. I looked for the pygmy pipehorse I had seen recently but it appears to have gone.
On my way to the exit I looked for "Big John", the orange form undescribed angler, but could not find him. I did my safety stop straight out from the exit. I thought about extending the stop for a couple of minutes simply because I had air and I regret not doing it because as I got out at The Steps, 4-5 dolphins swam by right over where I had been. Perhaps if I had stayed the extra time they would have checked me out. |
