Dive Details
Location
Date
Wednesday 14 October 2015
Time
11:29am - 12:55pm
Details
We jumped in on the northern side of the island between the boat ramp and the swimming pool. We swam out on the surface and then descended to the sand. We swam south to the outboard motor. We went up over the shelf and around over the sand in front of the boulders. I had a quick look for Little Miss Bouncy (IL2015081401), the pygmy pipehorse we often see bouncing over the rocks. I couldn't find her but would have a better look on the way back.
We headed down the slope and over to the rocks with the pink sea tulips. Kim found a male pygmy pipehorse. It is not the same one I last saw on the rock which was a female. It is possible this is one of the juveniles we saw some time ago but I can't be sure so I assigned it a new identifier: IL2015101401.
We continued down the slope and I stopped at the rock above Pygmy Rock to look for a pygmy pipehorse I have seen there previously. I found two: One was a male (IL2015073104) which I have seen before and the other a female which I can't confirm I have seen before and so she got a new identifier: IL2015101402.
We went further down the slope to where the two white pygmies have been. They were both there, the female, IL2015081402, and the male, IL2015081403. I looked for the pink male but could not find it. I did find a tiny nudibranch of a species I have not seen before. I tried to point it out to Kim but she misunderstood and then I lost it. Kim turned around here and Daniel not long after.
I continued to the corner looking for the other juvenile pygmy on the isolated rock but couldn't find it. I turned and came back up the slope. I stopped at the two white pygmies for more photos, then the two above Pygmy Rock and finally the male on the side of one of the rocks with the pink sea tulips.
At the top of the slope I looked again for Little Miss Bouncy and found her over by the edge of the sand. I then ascended to 5 metres and did my safety stop as I swam to the exit, getting out pretty much where I got in.
Buddy
Kim Dinh, Daniel Livings
Seas
Some surge
Visibility
5 metres
Duration
85 minutes
Maximum depth
13.7 m
Average depth
10.3 m
Water temperature
19.3°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEDT
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
Low
3:31am
0.39m
High
9:50am
1.62m
Low
4:05pm
0.38m
High
10:07pm
1.46m
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.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 10.5 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 10.7 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 10.6 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073104). 10.6 m.
Common Sydney octopus, Octopus tetricus. 10.8 m.
Sea hare, Elysia ornata. 10.5 m.
Juvenile comb wrase, Coris picta. 11.3 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081402). 12.8 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 12.7 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 12.5 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073104). 10.4 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073104). 10.5 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 10.4 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101401). 9.9 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101401). 9.9 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081401). 7.9 m.