Dive Details
Location
Date
Tuesday 30 December 2014
Time
11:42am - 12:55pm
Details
It was a gorgeous day in Sydney and The Leap looked fabulous. There was only a slight easterly swell and nothing to prevent a great dive. We jumped in at The Leap. Tomas and I got in on the low platform to protect our cameras. We descended to be greeted by visibility of around 3 metres. We headed to the sand line at around 60° and hit the sand line at the amphitheatre where the visibility was around 10 metres. It was quite cold.
We spotted a male weedy seadragon with eggs almost immediately. This was the 10th time I had seen this individual since March and he's had eggs for at least the last 10 days.
I showed the white male pygmy pipehorse to the others and then went to look for the pink one again. I have to believe it is now gone as this is the 4th dive I haven't been able to find it.
We swam on to Seahorse Rock. I found "Lucky", the male pot-bellied seahorse, at one end of the rock behind Seahorse Rock and then "Rosie" at the other end.
We continued on to the other seahorses and I found "Southern Cross" and "Pierre". "Southern Cross" was out in the open as she usually is and "Pierre" was hiding in his usual sponge.
We swam through Seadragon Alley and then I continued on along the sand line as far as the basket star. The others left me after Seahorse Alley. I spotted 10 weedy seadragons from Seadragon Alley to the basket star. Of the 10, 3 were males with eggs. Four were individuals I have no record of seeing previously. Of the others, one I have seen numerous times over the last 12 months; 2 I have seen numerous times since March; and the other 3 I have seen a few times previously.
After the basket star I headed over the reef to the boulders and I did my safety stop just past the Plesiastrea colonies. I exited at The Steps.
Buddy
Frank Hartigan, Tomas, Andrey Malashenok and Alexey Zolotarev
Seas
Slight
Visibility
5 to 10 metres
Duration
72 minutes
Maximum depth
21.5 m
Average depth
15.6 m
Water temperature
15.1°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEDT
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
High
4:12am
1.51m
Low
10:25am
0.57m
High
4:26pm
1.36m
Low
10:40pm
0.43m
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.
Eggs on the tail of a male weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 20.9 m.
Male weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 20.8 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 21.2 m.
Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 20.1 m.
Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 20.1 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 19.1 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Lucky"). 20 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Lucky"). 19.7 m.
Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 19.9 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Southern Cross"). 17.7 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Southern Cross"). 17.5 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Pierre"). 17.1 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 17.1 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 17.2 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 17.3 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 16.7 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 16.5 m.
Feeding weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 16.5 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 14.9 m.
Eggs on the tail of a male weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 14.4 m.
Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 14.1 m.
Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 14.1 m.
Eggs on the tail of a male weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 14.1 m.
Male weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 14 m.
Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 13 m.