Dive Details

Location

Date

Monday 14 December 2015

Time

11:07am - 12:43pm

Details

We jumped in on the northern side of the island to the west of the ramp. The visibility looked good from the surface as we surface swam out towards the outboard. We descended, swam past the outboard and up over the shelf along in front of the boulders. I checked the top of the slope for pygmy pipehorses but found none.

We headed down the slope and over to the rocks with the pink sea tulips. I checked out the third rock while Kim checked out the first one. I found the tiny juvenile pygmy (IL2015120701) I'd found last week. It was in the same spot. At the same time, Kim found a female (IL2015121401) on the second rock.

We continued down the slope. At the rock just above Pygmy Rock I looked for the female pygmy we've seen for the last 2 months. I found her (IL2015101402) and then found a new male (IL2015121402) right next to her. Kim and I had been discussing before the dive that the male that had been there since July was gone and I thought it possible another male might show up in its place. Here was the new male.

I left Kim there and swam on down to the two white pygmies. I found the male (2015081403) straight away. While looking for the female I found a juvenile (IL2015120403) on the edge of the next rock. I eventually found the female (IL2015081402). I am surprised how the female is no longer white. She's faded over the last few weeks.

I headed back up the slope stopping at the rock above Pygmy Rock to see the pair of pygmies there and then the rocks with the pink sea tulips to see the two pygmies there.

I swam to the top of the slope, along in front of the boulders and started my safety stop as I went. I finished my safety stop out from the exit point and got out where we got in.

Buddy

Kim Dinh

Seas

Slight

Visibility

3 to 5 metres

Duration

96 minutes

Maximum depth

13.6 m

Average depth

10.1 m

Water temperature

17.6°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

Low

4:28am

0.47m

High

10:58am

1.82m

Low

5:38pm

0.29m

High

11:38pm

1.36m

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.

Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015120701). 10.7 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121401). 10 m.
 

Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015120701). 10.9 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121402). 11.1 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121402). 11.1 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121402). 11.2 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 11.1 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121402). 11.1 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 11.1 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 13.4 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 13.4 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 13.4 m.
 

Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121403). 13.5 m.
 

Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121403). 13.6 m.
 

Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121403). 13.5 m.
 

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

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

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 13.3 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 11 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015101402). 11 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121402). 10.8 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121402). 10.9 m.
 

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121402). 10.9 m.
 

Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015120701). 10.5 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121401). 9.8 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121401). 9.8 m.
 

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121401). 9.7 m.