Dive Details

Location

Date

Monday 2 November 2015

Time

11:01am - 12:36pm

Details

It was very calm all around the island so we were able to jump in just south of the north west corner of the island. We descended and swam at around 220° to the end of Deep Wall just near where the seahorses used to be. We swam west looking for the seahorses but didn't find them. We did find a large juvenile crested horn shark.

We headed north at the gap in the reef. We found a few interesting nudibranchs before reaching the shallow wall. We headed west and then north around the wall until we got to the caves. In front of the caves we found the large male pygmy pipehorse (IL2015102601) in exactly the same spot as a week earlier. Kim left me at this point and I pottered along slowly.

I next stopped at the two white pygmy pipehorses (IL2015081402 and IL2015081403). They've been around for a few months now.

Further up the slope I looked under the rock Kim had shown me the upside-down pipefish last week but I couldn't see them this time.

I continued on to the rock just above Pygmy Rock. I found the male pygmy pipehorse (IL2015073104) immediately as he was in the same spot as a week ago. It took me a few minutes to find the female (IL2015101402).

I swam on the the rocks with the pink sea tulips. I easily found the male pygmy pipehorse (IL2015101401) because like the other males, he had hardly moved since last week. The female (IL2015073101) took a little longer to find.

I headed to the top of the slope to look for the other pygmy pipehorse (IL2015101701) I'd found a couple of weeks ago. Like all the other males, he was in the same spot he'd been last week. I had a look for a female in the area but couldn't find her.

I swam to the exit doing my safety stop along the way.

Buddy

Kim Dinh

Seas

Slight

Visibility

10 to 15 metres

Duration

94 minutes

Maximum depth

17.2 m

Average depth

11.6 m

Water temperature

15.8°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides

High

1:36am

1.26m

Low

7:14am

0.61m

High

1:37pm

1.61m

Low

8:31pm

0.45m

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.

Common Sydney octopus, Octopus tetricus. 11.8 m.
 

Reaper cuttlfish, Sepia mestus. 13 m.
 

Reaper cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 12.9 m.
 

Crested horn shark, Heterodontus galeatus. 16.6 m.
 

Crested horn shark, Heterodontus galeatus. 16.9 m.
 

Red indianfish, Pataecus fronto. 16.6 m.
 

Red indianfish, Pataecus fronto. 16.5 m.
 

Nudibranch, Flabellina rubrolineata. 16.2 m.
 

Nudibranch, Cratena lineata. 14 m.
 

Nudibranch, Cratena lineata. 14 m.
 

Nudibranch, Atagema intecta. 12.6 m.
 

Red-lined bubble snail, Bullina lineata. 12.5 m.
 

Flatworm. 12.8 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015102601). 13.5 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015102601). 13.6 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015102601). 13.6 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 13 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 13 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081402). 13.1 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081402). 13.2 m.
 

Nudibranch, Okenia hallucigenia. 13.4 m.
 

Nudibranch, Hypselodoris obscura. 12.3 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073104). 10.9 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073104). 11 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073104). 10.9 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 10.7 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 10.7 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101401). 10.7 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073101). 10.3 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073101). 10.1 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015073101). 10.2 m.
 

Nudibranch, Jorunna sp. 9.9 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101701). 8.7 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101701). 8.7 m.