Dive Details

Location

Date

8 February 2014

Time

2:15pm - 3:47pm

Details

We got in at The Steps and descended to the sand line amongst the kelp. Almost immediately I saw a painted stinkfish on the sand. I took a few photos but unfortunately one of my strobes wasn't switched on properly. We started heading towards The Monument and came across a weedy seadragon and then a second while we were still in the kelp.

We continued towards The Monument and Sheree found another painted stinkfish and by then I'd fixed the second strobe. We followed the sand line all the way to The Monument.

At The Monument, Sheree found "Oliver" the orange undescribed angler. Shortly after the angler I heard Sheree screaming excitedly and loudly. I knew immediately that she'd found a pygmy pipehorse. I swam up to her and she pointed it out. It was so tiny and basically the same colour as the algae in which it was clinging. I don't know how she saw it.

We continued the corner where Sheree pointed out two White's seahorses. We don't often see them at The Monument but when we do they seem to be close to the corner.

After going around the corner we followed the wall along to the sea tulips which mark the location of "Angus" the orange painted angler. We descended the wall and look all around for "Angus" but couldn't find it. We ascended the wall again and started our safety stop and swim to the beach where we exited.

Buddy

Sheree Papuni

Seas

Choppy

Visibility

5-10 metres

Duration

90 minutes

Maximum depth

13.0 m

Average depth

9.5 m

Water temperature

19.1°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides

High

4:06am

1.46m

Low

10:48am

0.65m

High

4:37pm

1.13m

Low

10:25pm

0.64m

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.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 9.8 m.
 

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 9.9 m.
 

Painted stinkfish, Eocallionymus papilio. 11.3 m.
 

Nudibranch, Chromodoris tasmaniensis. 10.1 m.
 

Green moray, Gymnothorax prasinus. 10.2 m.
 

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 10 m.
 

Nudibranch, Jorunna sp. 10.6 m.
 

Dendrophylliid coral. 10.5 m.
 

Nudibranch, Chromodoris splendida. 9.3 m.
 

Common Sydney octopus, Octopus tetricus. 11.7 m.
 

Sea star, Uniophora granifera. 11.7 m.
 

Undescribed angler ("Oliver"). 11.6 m.
 

Undescribed angler ("Oliver"). 11.6 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.8 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.8 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.9 m.
 

Nudibranch, Okenia hallucigenia. 12.1 m.
 

Female White's seahorse. Hippocampus whitei. 10.8 m.
 

Female White's seahorse. Hippocampus whitei. 10.6 m.
 

Yellow boxfish, Ostracion cubicus. 10.7 m.
 

Tube anemone, Pachycerianthus delwynae. 10 m.
 

Eastern frogfish, Batrachomoeus dubius. 8.6 m.
 

Sabellid worms. 5 m.