Dive Details

Location

Date

24 February, 2013

Time

8:11am - 9:23am

Details

The 12th dive of the Raja Ampat trip in February 2013 on board the S/Y Indo Siren and first of two dives at Barracuda Rock. The site has a lot of barracuda.

This dive was special for me because I found my first Hippocampus denise (photo below). These pygmy seahorses are much smaller than the more common H. bargibanti but once you get your eye in may actually be easier to find.

Seas

Moderate current

Visibility

30 metres

Duration

71 minutes

Maximum depth

26.8 m

Average depth

14.0 m

Water temperature

29.0°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D7000

Lens

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D

Housing

Ikelite 6801.70

Lens port

Ikelite Flat Port 5502.41

Strobe

2 x Ikelite SubStrobe DS161

Photographs

Depth information, where present, indicates the depth of the camera when the photograph was taken and can be used to approximate the depth of the subject.

Pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus bargibanti. 26.1 m.
 

Denise's pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus denise. 23 m.
 

Thorny oyster, Spondylus sp. 12.5 m.
 

Stony coral, Physogyra lichtensteini. 12.5 m.
 

Spotted shrimp goby, Amblyeleotris guttata. 12.6 m.
 

Sea star, Fromia indica. 11.8 m.
 

Nudibranch, Phyllidiopsis shireenae. 14.8 m.
 

Nudibranch, Flabellina exoptata. 12.3 m.
 

Nudibranch, Phyllidiella sp. 9.9 m.
 

Blenny, Ecsenius stigmatura. 7.5 m.