Dive Details

Location

Date

Sunday 19 April 2015

Time

11:01am - 12:15pm

Details

I bumped into Tomas after my first dive and tagged along with him and Nikita on a dive to the Isolated Reefs.

We got in on the point on the mainland side and surface swam out to right above the reef. We descended but as we descended we were hit by a current which took us away from the reef so when we hit the bottom it was just sand. We swam around for a while until Tomas located the reef and we were all set.

We swam along the isolated reef then turned and came back. We jumped back to the main reef and came around the corner near the caves. As we came up the slope I pointed out the spot where I had seen the juvenile pygmy pipehorse on the previous dive and Tomas located it immediately.

We headed further up the slope and I pointed out one of the pygmy pipehorses I'd on the previous dive and showed it to Tomas and Nikita. Nikita was running low on air so he and Tomas headed for the exit while I stayed with the pygmy pipehorse. I found the other one in the same location.

I headed to the top of the slope and found the mail pygmy pipehorse from the earlier dive. I could not find the other one.

I swam along the boulders doing my safety stop and exited near the ramp.

Buddy

Tomas, Nikita

Seas

Choppy on the surface

Visibility

5 to 10 metres

Duration

74 minutes

Maximum depth

18.7 m

Average depth

12.0 m

Water temperature

19.5°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

2:26am

0.23m

High

8:34am

1.71m

Low

2:36pm

0.29m

High

8:56pm

1.93m

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.

Red indianfish, Pataecus fronto. 16.7 m.
 

Eastern spiny gurnard, Lepidotrigla pleuracanthica. 16 m.
 

Fine-spotted porcupinefish, Diodon holocanthus. 16.2 m.
 

Sea star, Plectaster decanus. 15.2 m.
 

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 17 m.
 

Nudibranch, Hypselodoris obscura. 12.9 m.
 

Blotched hawkfish, Cirrhitichthys aprinus. 12.7 m.
 

Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 10.1 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.1 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9 m.
 

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9 m.
 

Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 7.7 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 7.7 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 7.6 m.