It was a very hot day and I was somewhat regretting wearing a dry suit but I knew the water would be cold so I put up with the heat and sweat. It was close to high tide and the low platform was under water so I slid down the wall. Visibility at the surface seemed okay. I descended and swam at around 60° to the sand line arriving at the amphitheatre. Visibility here was probably 10 to 15 metres but there was a lot of brown snot algae hanging in the water making it look less. I turned left and headed towards The Steps.
I swam past Seahorse Rock and spotted the first weedy seadragon just below the rock where the bent stick pipefish used to be. I continued on to Seadragon Alley where I saw two weedy seadragons swimming together. At once stage on bumped the other. They look like a male and a female so perhaps they were courting. The tide changed as I was going through Seadragon Alley and so I now had current to swim against.
I continued on past Big Rock and up to Hand Rock where I spotted both pygmy pipehorses. Finding them was a bit of a challenge because the rock (and most other rocks) are covered in the brown snot algae.
I swam on to the rock where "Lee", the yellow painted angler, had been. This rock was also covered in the brown snot algae. I was not able to find the angler.
I continued past where the basket star had been and then on to its new location. It was not there either. After a quick swim around I found it on a green finger sponge. I suspect it prefers this location.
I swam on to Diversity Rock. I couldn't see the male weedy seadragon with eggs nor could I find any pygmy pipehorses on Diversity Rock. Much like everywhere else, Diversity Rock was covered in the brown snot algae making finding anything small much more difficult.
I continued along the sand line past Little Big Rock and then cut in over the reef. I swam past Di's Rock and back to the sand line where I found another weedy seadragon. I followed the sand line a little farther before heading up the boulders and doing my safety stop. I exited at The Steps. |
