Dive Details
Location
Date
Tuesday 8 September 2015
Time
11:49am - 1:20pm
Details
Kim and I got in on the northern side of the island just to the west of the ramp. We swam on the surface for a bit before descending to the sand. It was very cold, around 16°C and I was in a wetsuit. Visibility was around 10 metres.
We headed over the sand to the outboard motor and then up over the ledge and around past the boulders. As we swam over the rock where the bouncy pygmy pipehorse (IL2015081401) was, she was still bouncing around.
We headed down the slope and went straight to the rock with the two white pygmy pipehorses (IL2015081402 and IL2015081402) and found them both there. The pink male (IL2015073102) was no longer there. Kim had not seen it on previous dives.
We continued around the corner and Kim found a juvenile pygmy pipehorse on a rock on the sand near the corner. I have seen pygmies on this rock previously.
We went all the way around the corner to the area where the white and pink pygmies have been and then turned and came back. We didn't find any new pygmies on the way back. Kim spotted a red indianfish with weird scars on its face.
I stopped at the 3rd rock with pink sea tulips to look for the pygmy pipehorses there and eventually found the pink female (IL2015073101). Kim was ahead of me somewhere so I continued on my own.
I stopped at the rock where the bouncy female pygmy (IL2015081401) was but could not see her. I eventually found her on the next rock. She was still bouncing around.
I swam to the exit and did my safety stop. It was a very cold dive in a wetsuit. I'll be glad to get back to the drysuit after it has been repaired.
Buddy
Kim Dinh
Seas
Choppy
Visibility
5 to 10 metres
Duration
90 minutes
Maximum depth
14.6 m
Average depth
10.2 m
Water temperature
16.2°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEST
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
High
4:46am
1.21m
Low
10:24am
0.60m
High
4:58pm
1.57m
Low
11:44pm
0.47m
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.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081401). 7.7 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081401). 7.8 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 12.3 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 12.3 m.
Sea hare, Elysia ornata. 12.6 m.
Sea hare, Elysia ornata. 12.3 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 12.3 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 12.3 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081402). 12.3 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081402). 12.3 m.
Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015090801). 13.1 m.
Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015090801). 13.2 m.
Nudibranch, Ardeadoris rubroannulata. 12.8 m.
Nudibranch, Gymnodoris sp. 12.6 m.
Red indianfish, Pataecus fronto. 11.2 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073101). 9.8 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073101). 9.7 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073101). 9.8 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081401). 8.1 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081401). 7.9 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081401). 8 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081401). 8 m.