Dive Details

Location

Date

Saturday 7 February 2015

Time

9:17am - 10:31am

Details

It was a little rougher at The Leap than the Willy Weather forecast had suggested but still fine for diving. I jumped in with the guys from FDC (PJ, Vicki, Graeme and Wayne), we descended and swam at around 60° to the sand line. The visibility here was pretty poor and was only 3 or maybe 4 metres. We looked at the white pygmy pipehorse and while the others were photographing it I checked the other side of the rock for more. I found a brownish one almost immediately but couldn't find any more. We then headed off towards The Steps.

We hit a patch where the visibility improved to maybe 5 metres but there was a huge school of jellyfish in that area so it was still difficult to see. What was really strange was we had to swim into a head current despite the fact that it was still 2 hours before high tide so the incoming tide should have been carrying us along, as it normally does. We found "Rosie" on her usual rock but I could not find any other seahorses, not that the conditions were conducive for looking. We then swam on to the next seahorse location. The others left me here while I did a search for "Southern Cross" and "Pierre". I could not find either. "Pierre" was not in his usual hiding place. I gave up after 10 minutes or so and headed to Seadragon Alley.

I found one weedy seadragon just before Seadragon Alley and 5 more in Seadragon Alley, including a male with eggs.

I followed the sand line along all the way to Little Big Rock and then headed over the reef to the boulders. I did my safety stop on the way, I past the Plesiastrea colonies and finished my safety stop out from The Steps. I exited at The Steps.

Seas

Surgy

Visibility

2-5 metres

Duration

74 minutes

Maximum depth

22.1 m

Average depth

16.3 m

Water temperature

20.7°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

Low

4:57am

0.49m

High

11:14am

1.63m

Low

5:35pm

0.40m

High

11:43pm

1.43m

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.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 21.8 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 21.5 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 21.3 m.
 

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 20.3 m.
 

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 20 m.
 

Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 19.8 m.
 

Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 17.5 m.