Dive Details
Location
Date
Friday 11 March 2016
Time
9:38am - 11:18am
Details
We jumped in at The Leap and swam at around 30° to the sand line. The visibility at the sand line was only around 5 metres and there was quite a bit of surge. We turned left and headed towards The Steps along the sand line.
We saw one weedy seadragon (PT2015081601) before Seahorse Rock. I spotted the bent stick pipefish on its usual rock. At the start of Seadragon Alley we saw the female weedy seadragon with the cut first appendage (PT2013122201) and 2 other weedys (PT2016021001, PT2015011102). In Seadragon Alley we saw the male with the flatish second appendage (PT2014030803), one of the juveniles from last year (PT2015051001), and another weedy from last year (PT2015122201). After Seadragon Alley I saw the female with the deformed body (PT2014030901).
We swam bast Big Rock and I headed up the reef to High Pygmy Rock. I found two males (IL2016021002, IL2016022102), and two females (IL2016022101, IL2015072601).
I came back down the reef, went past the basket star and on to Diversity Rock. At Diversity Rock I found all the seahorses, "Noel", "Arnold", "Daniel" and "Rosie". I also found 2 pygmy pipehorses, a male (IL2016022901) and a female (IL2016030602).
Mike had left me by now and I made my way to the other seahorses and found both "Di" and "Mikhail" on their usual rock. I then swam to the boulders, did my safety stop and exited at The Steps.
Buddy
Mike Scotland
Seas
Surgy
Visibility
5 to 7 metres
Duration
99 minutes
Maximum depth
21.7 m
Average depth
14.2 m
Water temperature
17.9°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEDT
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
Low
4:42am
0.22m
High
10:58am
1.82m
Low
5:12pm
0.21m
High
11:24pm
1.78m
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.
Bent stick pipefish, Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus. 19.8 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2016021001). 19.2 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014030803). 18.5 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014030803). 18.4 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016021002). 12.9 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016022102). 12.9 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016022101). 12.9 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016022101). 13 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016022102). 13.1 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015072601). 13.2 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015072601). 13.2 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016022102). 12.9 m.
Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 13.9 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Noel"). 13.1 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Arnold"). 13.2 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016022901). 13.5 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016030602). 13.5 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Noel"). 13.1 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel"). 13.2 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 13.5 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016022901). 13.3 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016030602). 13.3 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016022901). 13.4 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016030602). 13.6 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel"). 13.1 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Arnold"). 13.1 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 13.4 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Di"). 11.1 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Mikhail"). 11.2 m.