Dive Details
Location
Date
29 December, 2013
Time
2:33pm - 3:49pm
Details
It was a very rough day around Sydney with strong southerly winds and a big southerly swell. I knew that Kurnell would be somewhat protected but wasn't sure which sites would be diveable. The Leap was blown out. We could have dived The Steps but I think the surge would have been bad. We decided to dive The Monument.
We got in at the bay around the corner from the flagpoles and descended to the sponge garden. The visibility was only around 3 metres so we were going to lose each other a lot. In fact, I lost Sheree almost immediately.
I made my way towards "Little Sebastien", the yellow painted angler and came across Sheree on the way. It took me a while to find "Little Sebastien" because it had moved again. This time across two rocks on to the wall. It seems to have grown again in a few days. There was a large blue groper feeding near it and I was quite worried "Little Sebastien" would get eaten. It was still there when we left so here's hoping we'll see it again.
We headed back towards The Monument to look for the undescribed anglers. After much searching Sheree found one quite close to Split Rock. I assumed from the location it would be "Beverley" but after looking at the photographs, I believe it is "Oliver".
While at Split Rock, Sheree found a Phyllidiella pustulosa nudibranch. These are very common in the tropics but we'd never seen on in Sydney before.
We continued on to the corner and around without seeing anything interesting. We followed the wall along until the sea tulips and then dropped down to look at "Angus", the orange painted angler. It was partially hiding but still relatively easy to find. One eye is still dilated.
We ascended the wall and headed along the top. I came across another Phyllidiella pustulosa nudibranch. Two in one dive! This one had a tiny crustacean on it - although I didn't know at the time.
We swam up the gap in the kelp along the shallow wall to the exit point at the beach.
Buddy
Sheree Papuni
Seas
Rough
Visibility
3 metres
Duration
75 minutes
Maximum depth
12.3 m
Average depth
9.2 m
Water temperature
20.3°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEDT
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
High
6:08am
1.63m
Low
12:45pm
0.45m
High
6:33pm
1.32m
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.
Painted angler, Antennarius pictus, ("Little Sebastien"). 10.7 m.
Painted angler, Antennarius pictus, ("Little Sebastien"). 11 m.
Undescribed angler ("Oliver"). 11.2
Undescribed angler ("Oliver"). 11.4
Nudibranch, Phyllidiella pustulosa. 10.7 m.
Painted angler, Antennarius pictus, ("Angus"). 10.2 m.
Painted angler, Antennarius pictus, ("Angus"). 10.2 m.
Tiny crustacean on the nudibranch, Phyllidiella pustulosa. 6.4 m.
Nudibranch, Phyllidiella pustulosa. 6.4 m.