It was a hot day and John Farrant had had 19°C water yesterday so I figured I'd give the wetsuit another go. It was calm in the bay and the low platform was exposed so I entered from there. The surface water looked clear. I descended and swam at around 30° to the sand line. The water temperature dropped to around 17°C and I was regretting the wetsuit. Visibility was around 10 metres and there was not much surge or current. There was a lot of loose kelp on the sand line. I turned left and headed towards The Steps.
I found a weedy seadragon just before Seahorse Rock, another below Bent Stick Rock and a third before Southern Cross Rock. I found 3 more weedy seadragons in Seadragon Alley.
I swam past Big Rock and on to Hand Rock. I suspected neither pygmy pipehorse would be there and I was correct. After the male disappeared last week I felt sure the female would too. This could be my first dive at The Leap for some time without seeing a pygmy pipehorse. I started looking for pygmy pipehorses on surrounding rocks but one of the lenses in my mask was fogged up making it difficult to see anything small.
I swam on to Basket Star Rock hoping to see the male weedy seadragon with eggs but I couldn't find it. I swam up to the rock with the Miamira magnifica nudibranchs but only found one. I checked out the basket star before swimming back to the sand line. I followed the sand line to Diversity Rock and spotted another Miamira magnifica nudibranch just before I got there. I wonder if it is a new one or just the other one of the two that has moved. I checked Diversity Rock for pygmies made difficult by the fogged lens.
I followed the sand line towards The Steps.Ê
Somewhere I found another weedy seadragon.
Ê
I also checked out Di's rock.
I swam to the boulders and started my safety stop as I swam to Split Rock. I finished my safety stop and exited at The Steps. |
