For my second dive today I was doing The Monument. The tide was going out so I was going to go clockwise: entering in front of the flagpoles and exiting at the protected area on the way to The Steps.
I waded out through the channel, donned my fins and swam out to above the start of the East-West Wall. I descended to the wall. The visibility was only 3 to 5 metres and the water temperature around 19°C. There was no surge and not much current.
I headed along the base of the wall past the basket star and on to the isolated rock where Mandy's pygmy pipehorses have been. I found the pink female but I couldn't see the golden male. I looked all the way around the rock and eventually found him in the weed at the very bottom of the rock just off the sand.
I continued along the base of the wall to the area where "Naomi", the yellow White's seahorse, has been. I found her in the same orange finger sponge I originally saw her on 30 May.
I followed the base of the wall to the eastern end. I looked on the shelf for pygmy pipehorses but found none.
I looked on the large Carijoa rock just off the end of the wall and found the large orange red-fingered anglerfish. It was on top of the lower shelf of the rock.
I cut the corner and swam down the NW-SE Wall and along to the Valley of the Pygmies. I looked on the rock and found the white and red male. I then found his pink partner. I looked on the slope and found the reliable male in his usual spot. I found one other male. I was not able to find any other pygmies in the area.
I swam along the reef past where the grey red-fingered anglerfish used to be, past Split Rock and on to the slope below Seahorse Rock. I looked for "Nia", the brown White's seahorse on the slope but could not see her.
I headed to the rock above the wall and looked for pygmy pipehorses on it. I didn't find any.
I dropped over the Deep Wall and along past where the pot-bellied seahorses used to be. I had a quick look for them as I swam past. I then swam on to Pygmy Hollow. I found a male on the adjacent rock. I found another pygmy in the gap next to the white honeycomb sponge. I then found a grey female.
I continued past Block Rock and thought I try to find the small orange red-fingered anglerfish I'd found a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't remember exactly where I saw it but I had an idea what the rock looked like. It didn't take me long to find the rock and the anglerfish. I looked around to get my bearings so I could find it again.
I ascended and swam towards the shore. I found the shallow platform and swam along the base of it doing my safety stop. At the end I ascended to the platform and waded out.
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