Conditions were not great at The Steps. The swell was quite large, although most of the time the entry/exit point was quite flat. Di and Noel had been in previously and told me the visibility was poor but this was my only chance to dive this weekend and I had a record to maintain. I bumped into two other divers who said they'd seen to small dark coloured seahorses near each other. From talking to them I was confident they saw them on "Di"'s rock which suggests it was probably "Mikhail" and "Joseph". I hadn't seen "Joseph" for a while so it would be good if I could find him.
I jumped in and descended to the sand line. It was as Di and Noel had described: 2 to 3 metre visibility with a lot of stuff floating around. There was also quite a bit of surge. It was nearly 19°C but I was cold from the start.
I swam along the sand line to the rock with sponges and headed up to "Di"'s rock. I initially didn't see any seahorses but eventually spotted "Mikhail" in the sea tulips at one end. I searched around the rest of the rock but could not find any others. Conditions were not great for finding seahorses (surge and poor viz).
I went back to the sand line and continued towards Diversity Rock. I was hoping to find the white pygmy pipehorse that Di had spotted recently but again the conditions made it difficult to see anything.
At Diversity Rock I was disappointed that no seahorses were in the sea tulips. I eventually found "Daniel" and "Arnold" on the rock behind Diversity Rock. "Arnold" was hiding in his usual spot. I found "Noel" low down on Diversity Rock and the angler on the rock to the left. I swam around and finally found "Rosie" on the big rock above the rock with the angler. I then went looking for the juvenile weedy but there was to much surge and too much crap in the water.
I swam on to the other pygmy pipehorse location. I eventually found the female (IL2015072601) and while looking for the male, I found another small male (IL2015121201). I guess that means the previous male (IL2015092701) is gone. The rock is covered in snot algae like many of the rocks around.
I swam back to Diversity Rock via the sand line and the basket star. I had another look for the white pygmy pipehorse. Diversity Rock is now covered snot algae, too.
I headed back to "Di"'s rock and had another look for other seahorses. After finding none, I headed to the boulders, did my safety stop and exited at The Steps. Despite the large swell, the exit was easy and safe (although Greg was there to offer a hand). |
