Dive Details

Location

Date

27 September, 2013

Time

12:38pm - 1:33pm

Details

Despite the poor visibility at The Steps a couple of hours earlier, we figured we dive The Leap. The Leap is deeper and it was later into the high tide so more clean water should have flowed it. We were to be proven wrong.

The entry at The Leap was straight forward and the initial view of the visibility from the surface was not bad. As we descended it did not improve at all and probably got worse. The visibility was that poor it was very difficult to make out landmarks and so I took us far too north on the way to the sand line. It is difficult to be certain, because the visibility was so bad, but I think we hit the sand line somewhere around Seahorse Rock. Unfortunately, I thought we were a lot further south and as we headed north west along the sand line, I didn't realise until we were well past "Southern Cross".

Eventually I worked out where we were by the time we got to the high rock. I was then able to find the basket star and the Miamira magnifica nudibranch. We also saw two weedy seadragons in the same area we had dived on the earlier dive even though we didn't see any on that.

Shortly after the M. magnifica we headed to the exit for a safety stop and then got out at The Steps. That was the worst visibility I have ever experienced at The Leap.

Buddy

Peter Jaques

Seas

Surgey

Visibility

2-3 metres

Duration

54 minutes

Maximum depth

20.7 m

Average depth

13.3 m

Water temperature

15.9°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

High

1:32am

1.11m

Low

7:14am

0.68m

High

1:49pm

1.41m

Low

8:45pm

0.62m

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.

Polyclad flatworm. 17.2 m.
 

Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 13.4 m.
 

Nudibranch, Miamira magnifica. 13 m.
 

Common Sydney octopus, Octopus tetricus. 13.1 m.
 

Nudibranchs, Chromodoris splendida. 13.4 m.
 

Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 12.3 m.