Dive Details

Location

Date

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Time

6:41pm - 8:07pm

Details

There was three of us for the sunset/night dive: Kim, Gaetano and me. While Gaetano was keen to look for velvetfish, once heard about the white and pink pygmy seahorses that was what he wanted to see.

The tide was quite high so we got in on the northern side of the island, descended and made a beeline to the pygmies. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the location both pygmy pipehorses were gone. I don't understand it. We'd seen them twice yesterday and only a couple of hours earlier today. They were both fine and seemed no worse from the photos we'd taken. I have no explanation as to how both could disappear to suddenly. We scoured the area and there was no sign at all. While looking, Gaetano found a cool nudibranch, Cratena lineata.

After searching we started to head back slowly, looking for pygmies and nudibranchs along the way. We didn't find any until we reached the rocks with the pink sea tulips. I also found a Dendrodoris krusensternii nudibranch which I showed to Kim. We'd lost Gaetano by this time.

We headed further up the slope where Kim found a juvenile pygmy pipehorse and I found a hermit crab in a shell from a red-lined bubble snail. Kim continued to the exit while I took some photos of the juvenile. When I got to the sentry pygmies I also noticed a velvetfish right there. Gaetano would have been pleased.

From here I headed to the exit and came across a huge Port Jackson shark before doing my safety stop along the way. i exited near the ramp.

Buddy

Kim Dinh and Gaetano Dario Garilio

Seas

Surgy

Visibility

3-5 metres

Duration

85 minutes

Maximum depth

16.0 m

Average depth

10.7 m

Water temperature

21.4°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.

Low

12:53am

0.42m

High

7:16am

1.81m

Low

1:49pm

0.24m

High

7:55pm

1.57m

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D7000

Lens

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D

Housing

Ikelite 6801.70

Lens port

Ikelite Flat Port 5502.41

Strobe

2 x Ikelite SubStrobe DS161

Photographs

Depth information, where present, indicates the depth of the camera when the photograph was taken and can be used to approximate the depth of the subject.

Nudibranch, Cratena lineata. 15.4 m.
 

Flathead, Platycephalus. 14.8 m.
 

Nudibranchs, Okenia hallucigenia. 13.7 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 10.3 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 10.4 m.
 

Nudibranch, Dendrodoris krusensternii. 10.3 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 10.4 m.
 

Abalone, Haliotis sp. 10.5 m.
 

Hermit crab in a red-lined bubble snail shell. 10.7 m.
 

Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.3 m.
 

Velvetfish, Aploactisoma milesii. 8.9 m.
 

Eye of a Port Jackson shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni. 8.4 m.