Dive Details

Location

Date

21 July, 2013

Time

1:45pm - 2:48pm

Details

The forecast was for a north easterly swell of around 0.8 metres as well as strong winds. Approaching the top of the stairs it did not look promising with white caps across the bay, however, the entry point itself was almost a mill pond. It was protected from the winds and it looks like it was also protected from the swell by the northern coast of Botany Bay.

We jumped in and looked down. We could clearly see the bottom which is over 5 metres. This was going to be a great dive. We descended to the sand line and the visibility opened up even more. It was at least 15 metres.

The incoming tide was quite strong so we basically drifted with almost no effort to Seahorse Rock. Along the way we saw a couple of Port Jackson sharks. Behind Seahorse Rock we found "Kel" and "Bob" together and "Rosie" was nearby. We then headed to "Southern Cross", again drifting in the current. Along the way I spotted a juvenile weedy seadragon.

I found "Southern Cross" and "Richie" almost immediately and also a cuttlefish. I then noticed there was a new seahorse, now called "Pierre", fairly close to "Richie". It is always a thrill to find a new seahorse. Just behind "Southern Cross" and the others were two very large Port Jackson sharks resting in the rocks.

We headed off along the sand line again and saw more Port Jackson sharks. Some were resting on the bottom and others with swimming along. We also encountered a numb ray swimming around. Closer to The Steps I spotted two basket stars.

We headed up into the rocks for our safety stop swim and I spied a juvenile cleaner wrasse. It's pretty late in the year for them to still be around.

We exited at The Steps.

Buddy

Peter Jaques

Seas

Slight

Visibility

10-15 metres

Duration

62 minutes

Maximum depth

21.3 m

Average depth

14.3 m

Water temperature

15.9°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Cyber Aqualand Nx

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

12:51am

0.28m

High

6:43am

1.41m

Low

12:24pm

0.37m

High

7:01pm

1.99m

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D7000

Lens

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR +5 diopter

Housing

Ikelite 6801.70

Lens port

Ikelite 6" Dome Port 5503.50

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.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Kel"). 19.3 m.
 

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 19.9 m.
 

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Bob"). 19.3 m.
 

Juvenile weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 19.6 m.
 

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Pierre"). 17.4 m.
 

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Pierre"). 17.1 m.
 

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Southern Cross"). 17.3 m.
 

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 17.3 m.
 

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Richie"). 17.4 m.
 

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Southern Cross"). 17.5 m.
 

Port Jackson shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni. 17 m.
 

Port Jackson shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni. 18.1 m.
 

Port Jackson shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni. 18.2 m.
 

Numb ray, Hypnos monopterygium. 11.7 m.
 

Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 13 m.
 

Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 10.2 m.
 

Juvenile cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus. 5.5 m.