Dive Details
Location
Date
Sunday 7 December 2014
Time
7:56am - 9:11am
Details
It was meant to be a bigger north easterly swell today than yesterday but it looked about the same at The Leap. The tide was too high to use the low platform so I slid down the wall next to the platform. Visibilty at the entry point was pretty poor. I descended and headed at 60° to the sand line. I must have gone taken off course a bit as I ended up at the end of the wall. The visibility was around 10 metres at the sand line.
I swam north west to the edge of the amphitheatre and found the white male pygmy pipehorses in its usual spot. I then swam over the sponge covered rock next to it and down to the low rock where I found the pink pygmy pipehorse yesterday. I scoured the area I saw it as well as making a circuit of the rock but did not find it.
I then swam west to the rock with the pink male pygmy pipehorse that I have been watching for a few weeks. I found it pretty quickly and took some photographs. I didn't spend too long in the area this time as I wanted to spend some more time further along.
I swam on to Seahorse Rock and found "Rosie" on the rock behind as usual. She's looking mighty fine. I couldn't find any other seahorses on her rock.
On my way to the other two seahorses I found a weedy seadragon. I have seen this one at least 2 times previously and last time was in October.
I found "Southern Cross" and "Pierre" immediately. "Pierre" was hanging on to the exact same sponge as yesterday.
As I swam through Seadragon Alley I found two weedy seadragons: one I'd seen in the same area yesterday and a number of times since April; and the other was a male with eggs that I have seen a number of times with and without eggs since September.
I swam up to the top of the reef and made my way slowly along the reef looking for interesting things but found nothing of note. I hit the boulders not far from the Plesiastrea colonies, did my safety stop and exited at The Steps.
Seas
Choppy
Visibility
5-10 metres
Duration
75 minutes
Maximum depth
22.6 m
Average depth
15.9 m
Water temperature
16.1°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEDT
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
Low
3:02am
0.43m
High
9:34am
1.83m
Low
4:12pm
0.29m
High
10:09pm
1.35m
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.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 21.8 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 21.8 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 21 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 21 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 21.1 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 20.4 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Southern Cross"). 18.6 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Pierre"). 18 m.
Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 13.1 m.
Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 11.7 m.