Dive at Bare Island, La Perouse, NSW on Monday 26 October 2015

Dive Details

Location

Date

Monday 26 October 2015

Time

11:44am - 1:28pm

Details

We jumped in on the northern side of the island just west of the ramp. We surface swam a little and then descended to the sand. Visibility was around 10 metres. We swam to the outboard motor and then up over the shelf and along the sand line to the top of the slope.

In the corner at the top of the slope I had a quick look for Little Miss Bouncy, the pygmy pipehorse (IL2015081401) but could not find her or the male (IL2015101701) I'd recently found in the area.

I caught up with Kim and then checked out the side of the rock with the pink sea tulips for the pygmies we have seen there. I found the male (IL2015101401) we'd found a couple of weeks ago.

We headed down the slope and on the rock just above pygmy rock I found the male (IL2015073104) who's been there for a few months and the female (IL2015101402) we first saw a couple of weeks ago.

Further down the slope we found the two white pygmies (IL2015081402 and IL2015081403).

We swam to the corner in front of the caves where Kim showed me the very pregnant male (IL2015102601) she'd found recently. He looks like he's just about to give birth. We had a look around the area for a female but could not find any.

We turned and headed back up the slope. Kim showed me a pair of upside-down pipefish under one of the rocks. They were smaller than the pair I'd found a few weeks ago but just as hard to photograph. I have photos that show that I saw them but not good enough to publish.

I stopped by the rock just above Pygmy rock to see the pair of pygmies there and Kim continued on to the rock with the pink sea tulips. I pointed out the male just as Kim saw it and then set about to look for the female (IL2015073101) which I eventually found.

Kim then headed for the exit while I had a look at the top of the slope for Little Miss Bouncy. I couldn't find her but I did find the male (IL2014101701).

I then headed for the exit myself doing my safety stop along the way.

Buddy

Kim Dinh

Seas

Slight

Visibility

5-10 metres

Duration

104 minutes

Maximum depth

13.1 m

Average depth

9.5 m

Water temperature

18.5°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

Low

1:36am

0.18m

High

7:51am

1.73m

Low

2:03pm

0.22m

High

8:13pm

1.71m

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, (IL2015101401). 9.6 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073104). 10.1 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 9.7 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 9.8 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 9.9 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 12 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081402). 12.1 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015102601). 12.4 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015102601). 12.6 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 11.7 m.

Sea hare, Elysia ornata. 10.5 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073104). 9.8 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 9.6 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073101). 9.1 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101401). 9.3 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101401). 9.4 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073101). 9 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101701). 7.6 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101701). 7.5 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse. Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101701). 7.4 m.