Dive at The Leap, Kurnell, NSW on Friday 7 August 2015

Dive Details

Location

Date

Friday 7 August 2015

Time

11:46am - 1:24pm

Details

I dedicated this dive to my friend Della on her birthday. My aim was to find as many syngnathids (seahorses and their allies) as I could as we both love them.

Conditions were a bit rougher than they had been but certainly not too rough to dive The Leap. There was the occasional large wave that would was over the entry rock but not dangerous. I slid down the rocks next to the low platform and was surprised how great the visibility was (around 5 metres) right at the entry point. I descended and swam at around 60° to the sand line. I arrived just to the right of Pygmy Rock. Visibility here was around 10 metres.

I searched Pygmy Rock for pygmies for around 5 minutes. There was a bit of surge but not too much to be annoying. I then checked the other side of the flat top sponge covered rock for the male weedy seadragon with eggs but couldn't find it.

My swim to Seadragon Alley was uneventful but I did see one weedy just before the start of Seadragon Alley. It was a female I have seen since late 2013 (PT2013122201).

I saw two more weedy seadragons in Seadragon Alley, a female (PT2015011102) and a male (PT2014030803). The male didn't have any eggs.

I continued along the sand line until just after Big Rock. I moved up just off the sand line to the rock with the pygmy pipehorses. I found one (IL2015072601) straight away but it took me some time to find the other (IL2015070501) as it was hiding under some algae. I also found the one (IL2015072602) on the adjacent rock. I tried to get some photos of them using my new ruler.

I swam back down to the sand line and past the basket star to "Rosie"'s new location. I couldn't find her on either rock I'd seen her on. While I was searching, I noticed a weedy seadragon on the sand. It was my favourite one with the wavy body (PT2014030901). While I was photographing her I was very pleasantly surprised to see a pregnant male seahorse hanging on the the kelp. At first I thought it was "Pierre", but on closer inspection (and checking the photographs) it is a new (to me) seahorse. I will call him "Noel". While I was trying to photograph "Noel", he kept letting go and moving. He moved all the way to a gap between two rocks and I spotted "Rosie" there. So, not only did I find a new seahorse, I was also able to find "Rosie".

I headed up off the sand line to look for the Miamira magnifica nudibranch but couldn't find it. I swam on to the rock where "Di" has been and found he on a sponge near the base.

I swam to the boulders, did my safety stop and exited at The Steps. The exit wasn't difficult but it was annoying due to the swell.

It was a great dive for Della's birthday. Four weedy seadragons, three pygmy pipehorses and three seahorses. I wish Della could have joined me.

Seas

Surgy

Visibility

10 metres

Duration

98 minutes

Maximum depth

22.1 m

Average depth

14.3 m

Water temperature

15.8°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

High

1:23am

1.44m

Low

7:41am

0.44m

High

2:09pm

1.59m

Low

8:35pm

0.56m

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.