There was an easterly wind blowing and an easterly swell but there was hardly a ripple hitting The Steps. The swell was noticeable at The Leap but still not all that big. The low platform was mostly exposed so I was able to get in from there. I could see the bottom from the surface so the visibility there was around 5 metres. I descended and swam at around 45° to the sand line. I arrived at the Amphitheatre and visibility was around 10 metres but the temperature had dropped to nearly 16°C. There was a gentle current but not much surge.
I had a quick look at Pygmy Rock for pygmy pipehorses before heading towards The Steps along the sand line. I was quite pleased with the visibility as an easterly swell can make it quite dirty. I swam past Seahorse Rock and Southern Cross Rock and came across a weedy seadragon (PT2015062401) just before the start of Seadragon Alley.
Just as I got to Seadragon Alley it got dark very quickly. I looked up to see a massive school of Australian salmon. There would have been thousands of fish in the school. They swam quite close to me at times. I took some video but it was so dark the video won't show how impressive it was. They were even stirring up the bottom.
I swam through Seadragon Alley and came across another weedy seadragon (PT2013122201). This was a female I first saw 3 years ago and I can recognise her because of the cut to her first appendage. I'm glad at least some of the older seadragons are still around after the storm.
I continued on past Big Rock and started to look for the pygmy pipehorses we'd seen last weekend near hand rock. I scoured the rocks but could not find a single pygmy. I was looking at all the right rocks but they were not visible to me. I was quite cold by now so it could possibly be I wasn't thinking straight but I was able to make out small sea hares.
I stayed along the top of the reef until I came to the rock where the Miamira magnifica nudibranches had been. Neither was on the rock nor could I see them on adjacent rocks. The basket star was on its sponge.
I worked my way back to High Pygmy Rock in the hope of finding some pygmies but found none along the way. I swam back to Diversity Rock and found nothing of interest there.
I continued along the sand line towards The Steps and just before Little Big Rock I found the male pygmy pipehorse (IL2016121704) I'd seen last weekend. I looked for the female but couldn't find her. At least I'd found a pygmy pipehorse.
I cut up the reef to Di's Rock and spotted a clown toby on the way. I then headed for the boulders and started my safety stop while swimming to Split Rock. I finished my safety stop at Split Rock and then got out at The Steps. With the low tide and gentle swell it was an easy exit. |
