Roney was busy watching football and Mike's out of the country so this was going to be a solo dive. I don't mind though and I have been really enjoying my dives at The Monument. High tide was around 9am so I'd only have around 30 minutes before the tide changed.
I got in from the protected area about one third of the way from The Monument to The Steps. The seas were quite calm and the entry was quite easy. I waded out to the edge of the shelf and then descended. I swam to the sand line. Visibility was around 5 metres and there was just a small amount of surge. Water temperature was just under 16°C. I turned left and swam along the sand line.
I swam on to Block Rock and thoroughly looked for the little orange painted angler but couldn't find it.
I continued on to the wall where I spotted a male weedy seadragon near a red alga. He had the remnants of eggs.
I followed the wall and looked for both the black painted angler and the grey red-fingered angler but could not find either of them.
Near the end of the wall I swam up and over to the other orange painted angler which was on its usual rock. On the adjacent rock I found the female pygmy pipehorse but I was not able to find the male.
I swam down to Carijoa Rock. On my way I was buzzed by a school of kingfish. I found both the red male and cryptic female pygmy pipehorses. I headed up to Slope Rock and surrounds. I couldn't find any pygmies on Slope Rock but I did find Dama's red male pygmy on the adjacent rock. I looked around the area for other pygmies found none.
I swam up to Seahorse Rock and found the male White's seahorse on top of the rock in the sponges. I found both spindle cowries. I looked for the female White's seahorse but could not find her. I searched the sand area for some time looking for the little dragonfish but could not find it.
I headed up to the Capnella colonies and found one of the egg cowries in one of the colonies. I didn't initially see the other cowrie. I had another look for the leaf scorpionfish before making my way back to the sand near Seahorse Rock to look for the little dragonfish some more. On my way back I spotted the other egg cowrie out on the substrate. I searched again for the little dragonfish before heading for the shallows and the exit. I got out at the little bay to the south east of the point. |
