It was nice and calm at The Leap with just the occasional set of larger waves coming through. I slid down the wall and jumped in next to the low shelf. Visibility at the entry point was at least 5 metres and I could see a bit of surge in the kelp. I descended and swam at around 60° to the sand line. I arrived in the middle of the amphitheatre.
I swam to the flat top rock covered in sponges to the north west of Pygmy Rock. There was a weedy seadragon just below the flat top rock. This was one I had not seen before.
I swam over the flat top rock to Pygmy Rock and it was tough going as the incoming tidal current was quite strong. I found a (the?) pygmy pipehorse almost immediately on top of the rock but the tidal current and surge made it quite difficult to photograph and I spend almost 15 minutes taking just 10 photos.
I headed off towards The Steps. I could not see the weedy seadragon after I came over the flat top rock so it was lucky I took photos of it prior to going to Pygmy Rock. I arrived at the rock where "Pierre", the male pot-bellied seahorse, now lives and found him almost immediately. He was on the sponge next to the one we'd seen him last weekend.
I continued on to Seadragon Alley and saw one weedy seadragon before I got there. This was one I have seen a few times in that area since the beginning of the year. I saw four more weedies in Seadragon Alley all I had seen before, including the juvenile and the one with the wavy body.
After Seadragon Alley I headed to the top of the reef in the hope of finding the Miamira magnifica nudibranch but as I hadn't taken notice of where we saw it was not at all surprising that I couldn't find it.
I ascended to the boulders and did my safety stop just past the Plesiastrea colonies and exited at The Steps. |
