By the time I jumped in at The Leap it was a bit rougher than it had been when I had checked out the conditions just 30 minutes earlier. It was not too rough to get in safely but there was too much water over the low platform so I slid down the wall. Once in the water the surface was quite rough but the visibility was still at least 5 metres.
I swam to the sand line at around 60° and the surge was quite powerful which made the swim a bit tougher. The water felt quite warm with my watch suggesting it was around 19°C. I reached the sand line at the amphitheatre right at Pygmy Rock. The visibility was around 10 metres. Before I got to Pygmy Rock I noticed a weedy seadragon milling around it so I went to photograph it first. It started right on the sand under Pygmy Rock but I followed it right past Pygmy Rock as we swam past I saw the pygmy pipehorse on top of the rock. That would have to be the quickest I have found it.
After photographing the weedy, which was the same one I'd seen in the area 2 weeks ago, I started trying to photograph the pygmy pipehorse which was a real challenge due to the strong surge. In fact, I was surprised the poor pygmy wasn't being washed off the rock the surge was that strong.
I headed off towards Seahorse Rock and found another weedy seadragon. This was the other one I'd seen recently near Pygmy Rock, although I have most often seen it between Pygmy and Seahorse Rocks.
Just after Seahorse Rock I found "Pierre" at his new location. He was hiding again but I was able to find him quite quickly.
Shortly after "Pierre" and before I reached the rock we used to see "Southern Cross", I found another weedy seadragon. I first saw this one a month ago before Seahorse Rock and saw it last week at the start of Seadragon Alley so it has moved around quite a bit.
When I reached Seadragon Alley I saw two more weedy seadragons together. One was a male I have seen previously. The other I have seen many times since December 2013 and I can only guess it is a female by the deeper body and the fact that I have never seen it with eggs.
Further along in Seadragon Alley I found two more weedy seadragons swimming near each other. One was a male that I've seen since early 2014 and the other the juvenile that we stared seeing in May.
At the end of Seadragon Alley I found the weedy seadragon with the deformed body that has been around since at least March 2014.
After Seadragon Alley I headed to the top of the reef and swam along at around 11 metres hoping to find the Miamira magnifica nudibranch. As I got close to The Steps I spotted two more weedy seadragons swimming together at the sand line. Both I have seen before. Once I first saw in March 2014 and the other in December 2013.
I swam to the boulders and did my safety stop. The temperature dropped a bit at 5 minutes but dropped significantly as I surfaced. It got as low as 17.3°C according to my watch. I exited at The Steps. The exit was a bit difficult due to the height of the tide and the swell but I managed it. |
