Dive at The Steps, Kurnell, NSW on Thursday 31 December 2015

Dive Details

Location

Date

Thursday 31 December 2015

Time

11:38am - 12:59pm

Details

I jumped in at The Steps and descended to the sand line. It felt a bit colder than the first dive but it was actually the same temperature. Visibility was much the same as the earlier dive.

I turned right and headed towards The Leap. I followed the sand line until I reached the rock with the white honeycomb sponge and then made my way up the reef. I found "Di" and "Mikhail" on their usual rock.

I headed back to the sand line and followed it past Little Big Rock towards Diversity Rock. Shortly after Little Big Rock I spotted a Nembrotha purpureolineata nudibranch. I then spotted a female weedy seadragon (PT2014123003).

I arrived at Diversity Rock hoping that "Rosie" and "Daniel" were still courting but they were apart. "Rosie" was still on the sponge she was on when I left them on the first dive and "Daniel" had moved over to the same sponge that "Noel" was on. I found "Arnold" on the rock behind and the angler on the rock above and to the left of Diversity Rock.

I headed along the sand line towards the basket star hoping to find the javelin pipefish again. I found both pygmy pipehorses (IL2015121501 and IL2015122201) but could not see the pipefish. The surge was still pretty bad which made looking difficult.

I went up the reef to the other pygmies (IL2015072601, IL2015121201) and found both where I'd left them on the first dive. I dropped back to the sand line and saw the same male weedy with eggs (PT2015061401) I'd seen on the previous dive.

I swam back past the basket star, looked in on the pygmies again and then on to Diversity Rock. Despite the surge I had a look for pygmy pipehorses on Diversity Rock and was pleasantly surprised to find a new male (IL2015123101). What a top way to end the year.

I headed over to the other seahorses and then on to the boulders to do my safety stop. I exited at The Steps. The exit was a little hairy but a group of divers from St George Underwater were there and helped me with the camera.

Seas

Surgy

Visibility

5 to 10 metres

Duration

80 minutes

Maximum depth

15.1 m

Average depth

12.0 m

Water temperature

18.6°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides

High

1:15am

1.30m

Low

6:55am

0.65m

High

1:07pm

1.53m

Low

7:46pm

0.48m

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 pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Di"). 10.6 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Mikhail"). 10.8 m.

Nudibranch, Nembrotha purpureolineata. 12.6 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014123003). 12.1 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Noel"). 13.9 m.

Red-fingered angler, Porophryne erythrodactylus, ("Kim"). 12.6 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Arnold"). 12.6 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015122201). 13.4 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121501). 13.6 m.

Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 13.6 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015072601). 12.8 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121201). 12.7 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015072601). 12.8 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (). 12.7 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (). 12.6 m.

Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 13.4 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015122201). 13.6 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Noel", "Daniel"). 13.7 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel"). 13.6 m.

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 13.7 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015123101). 13.2 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015123101). 12.9 m.

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 11.6 m.

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 11.8 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Mikhail"). 10.9 m.

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Di"). 10.9 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Mikhail"). 10.9 m.