Dive at The Leap, Kurnell, NSW on Sunday 26 July 2015

Dive Details

Location

Date

Sunday 26 July 2015

Time

10:02am - 11:29am

Details

Conditions had been too good not to dive again today. It was flat again and with the tide being so low even the low shelf was a bit of a leap - but not to big. I descended and swam to the sand line at around 60°, again reaching the amphitheatre right on Pygmy Rock. Visibility was 10 to 15 metres.

As with yesterday and Friday, I was not able to find any pygmy pipehorses on Pygmy Rock. I don't know which is worse, there no longer being any pygmies on Pygmy Rock or I can no longer find them. I think I prefer the latter.

I swam over the flat top rock and saw the pregnant male weedy seadragon was still in the area. As I usually do, I took a photo of the eggs but this time I think I may have captured a baby hatching. It looks like a tail hanging out of one of the eggs. The eyes and a tail are clearly visible in one of the other eggs.

I swam on past Seahorse Rock. I looked for "Pierre" again on the flat sponge covered rock but I still can't find him.

Just before I got to Seadragon Alley I saw the same juvenile weedy seadragon I'd seen yesterday. I then saw two weedies in Seadragon Alley, one the same male I have seen the last two days and a female I first saw at the end of 2013.

Shortly after Seadragon Alley I saw the female with the wavy body. I hadn't seen her for a month.

I kept on the sand line until just after Big Rock where I moved up to see the pygmy pipehorse. It was still there. I swam past the deeper basket star and on to the location I'd seen "Rosie" on the second dive yesterday. She wasn't on the same rock as yesterday but I found her on the rock behind which I now realise was the same rock I'd seen her on Friday. I now have the location memorised and it is in the same area we saw the Miamira magnifica in 2013.

After "Rosie" I hunted for the latest Miamira magnifica but couldn't find it. Yesterday it had been heading across the sand so it could be anywhere.

I was able to find "Di" quite easily as she was on the same rock as yesterday. I then headed to the boulders for my safety stop and exited at The Steps.

Seas

Slight

Visibility

10-15 metres

Duration

86 minutes

Maximum depth

21.3 m

Average depth

14.9 m

Water temperature

15.0°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

High

3:21am

1.24m

Low

9:24am

0.60m

High

4:06pm

1.52m

Low

10:45pm

0.66m

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D300

Lens

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D

Housing

Ikelite 6812.3

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.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2015060601). 21 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2015060601). 21.1 m.

Eggs on the tail of a male weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2015060601). Note that one appears to be hatching and other looks ready to hatch. 20.8 m.

Cropped version of previous photograph. 20.8 m.

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 16.9 m.

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 16.6 m.

Juvenile weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2015062401). 17.9 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus,(PT2014030803). 17.1 m.

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 16.2 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2013122201). 16.3 m.

Feeding weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2013122201). 16.7 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014030901). 14.1 m.

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015070501). 11.8 m.

Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 12.9 m.

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 12 m.

Juvenile female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Di"). 10 m.

Juvenile female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Di"). 10.3 m.

Juvenile female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Di") with my index finger for scale. 10.3 m.