Dive Details

Location

Date

Friday 28 July 2017

Time

8:54am - 10:42am

Details

After the poor conditions I experienced at The Monument on Sunday I waited until Friday to dive again hoping that a few days of slight to moderate seas would improve things. I had planned to come later for a single dive but I woke up early and arrived 2 hours earlier than planned to give me time for a second dive if I felt so inclined. It was very calm at both The Steps and The Leap so entry/exit would not be a problem. It even looked reasonably clear from the top of the stairs at The Leap.

I got in from the low platform that had water gently washing over it. From the surface the visibility did not look all that great. I doubt it was even 5 metres and there was a lot of particulate matter. I descended and headed at 60° to the sand line arriving at the Amphitheatre. Visibility was only around 3 metres and water temperature was between 17 and 18°C. There wasn't much surge but the tidal current was very strong. I turned left and headed towards The Steps.

I swam along the sand line but spotted nothing remarkable. I went past Seahorse Rock and on to Bent Stick Rock. I didn't see the juvenile weedy seadragon which is normally before Bent Stick Rock. I looked at the rock below and after Bent Stick Rock for the Ceratosoma brevicaudatum nudibranch but couldn't find it. The strong current made searching difficult. I went around the corner looking for the weedy seadragon that is usually there but couldn't see it. I then looked back to where I'd just been and saw it at the edge of the rock below Bent Stick Rock. I don't know how I missed it.

Before I got to Southern Cross Rock I found the juvenile weedy seadragon and other on the sand. At Southern Cross Rock I found the little pink male pygmy pipehorse in the Carijoa colonies and after a bit of hunting I also found the yellowish male. Just before the start of Seadragon Alley I spotted another weedy seadragon.

I swam through Seadragon Alley without seeing any weedy seadragons until the very end where I spotted 2 near where the red widebody pipefish with the parasite has been. I also found the two pygmy pipehorses that I first saw Monday of last week. I then looked for the red widebody pipefish with parasite but it was no longer there. I started looking around the nearby algal clumps but couldn't find it. I checked more as I headed towards Big Rock and found it 5 to 10 metres farther along.

On my way to Big Rock I found another weedy seadragon. At Big Rock I looked for the angler we saw on Monday last week but could not find it. I check the rock it was on and a number of rocks around the area to no avail.

I swam past Big Rock and checked the rock below Hand Rock where I found a pygmy pipehorse on the side of the rock. I then checked out Slope Rock and after much searching found a pygmy pipehorse. I couldn't find the large pink male nor the small pink male I'd found last week.

I headed along the top of the reef until Miamira Rock. I looked for the grey red-fingered angler we'd seen recently but I couldn't find it. I then looked for the two red widebody pipefish where we'd last seen them but I couldn't find them.

I was running low on air because of the time I'd spent in deeper water (and I needed to pee) so I headed for the boulders and started my safety stop as I swam to Split Rock. I finished my safety stop at Split Rock and then headed for the exit. I surfaced just outside the exit point and swam through on the surface. The wind had picked up but it was still quite calm and the exit was easy.

Seas

Some surge

Visibility

3 to 5 metres

Duration

107 minutes

Maximum depth

21.6 m

Average depth

15.7 m

Water temperature

17.2°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.

Low

6:01am

0.39m

High

12:14pm

1.46m

Low

6:06pm

0.61m