Dive at The Leap, Kurnell, NSW on Thursday 31 December 2015

Dive Details

Location

Date

Thursday 31 December 2015

Time

9:03am - 10:36am

Details

As I was planning a second dive at The Steps I left the car there and walked up to The Leap. I made sure it was calm enough to exit at The Steps and I know that it is always possible to get in at The Leap. It was a little rough but nothing of concern. I slid down the rock beside the low platform and jumped into the water. The visibility on the surface was around 5 metres. I descended and swam to the sand line at around 60°. I arrived just to the south east of Pygmy Rock and the visibility was around 10 metres. There was quite a bit of surge but at least it was around 19°C.

I headed towards The Steps. I quickly checked Pygmy Rock for pygmy pipehorses but found none. I didn't want to stay too long as I was diving on air. I continued on and not long after Pygmy Rock I spotted a bubble snail, Hydatina physis. I have seen them between The Steps and The Monument but never at The Leap.

When I arrived at Seahorse Rock the school of striped catfish were (still) there. I was able to swim into the school without disturbing them too much. I continued on and found the large juvenile weedy seadragon (PT2015081601) that I first saw south of the wall hiding in the gab between the large rocks. I have often seen it there.

In Seadragon Alley I saw 6 weedy seadragons: 2 males with eggs (PT2014051701, PT2014030803); two females (PT2013122201, PT2014030901) and two large juveniles (PT2015091101 and PT2015050901). Between Seadragon Alley and Big Rock I saw another two weedy seadragons swimming together: a female (PT2014092001) and a male with eggs (PT2014091301). Just before Big Rock I saw another male weedy with eggs (PT2014123002).

After Big Rock I headed up the reef to check out the pygmy pipehorses. Both the female (IL2015072601) and the male were there (IL2015121201). The female has been around for over 5 months and this is the longest I have followed one pygmy.

I headed back to the sand line and saw another male weedy with eggs (PT2015061401) just before I reached the basket star.

After the basket star I checked out the make pygmy pipehorse (IL2015121501) that Kim found a couple of weeks ago. While looking for the female I spied a small reddish brown pipefish. It moved pretty quickly and was not easy to photograph, especially with the surge, but I think it might be juvenile red pipefish, Notiocampus ruber. (I'm waiting on confirmation from Rudie Kuiter. Rudie has confirmed it is a javelin pipefish, Lissocampus runa. Not as rare as a red pipefish but still a first for me.) I then found the female pygmy (IL2015122201).

I swam on to Diversity Rock and found "Rosie" and "Daniel" entwined in courtship on the sand immediately in front of diversity rock. "Daniel" had is pouch fully inflated and his tail wrapped around "Rosie"'s tail. The surge was kicking up a lot of sand and also buffeting them around but it was very cool to watch. I located "Noel" just above them on Diversity Rock. "Arnold" was on the rock behind Diversity Rock and the angler was on the rock above and to the left. I watched the courting seahorses for a while before moving on.

I swam on to "Di" and "Mikhail" and found them near the top of the rock. "Mikhail" was in one of the green finger sponges but moved to the sea tulips. "Di" was in another green finger sponge.

I headed for the boulders and started my safety stop once I hit 5 metres. After my safety stop I exited at The Steps. It was a little rough but I got out without too much trouble. Interestingly, shortly after I got out the water was quite calm.

Seas

Surgy

Visibility

5-10 metres

Duration

93 minutes

Maximum depth

21.4 m

Average depth

14.0 m

Water temperature

18.4°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides

High

1:15am

1.30m

Low

6:55am

0.65m

High

1:07pm

1.53m

Low

7:46pm

0.48m

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.

Bubble snail, Hydatina physis. 20.9 m.

Striped catfish, Plotosus lineatus. 20.7 m.

Striped catfish, Plotosus lineatus. 20.2 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2015091101). 16.1 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014030803). 17.4 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014030803). 17.5 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2013122201). 16.5 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2015050901). 16.3 m.

Common Sydney octopus, Octopus tetricus. 16.2 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2015050901). 16.2 m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014123002). 15 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121201). 12.2 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015072601). 12.3 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121201). 12.1 m.

Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 13 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121501). 13 m.

Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121501). 13.1 m.

Javalin pipefish, Lissocampus runa. 13 m.

Javalin pipefish, Lissocampus runa. 13.1 m.

Javalin pipefish, Lissocampus runa. 13.2 m.

Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015122201). 13.4 m.

Courting pot-bellied seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel" and "Rosie"). 13.4 m.

Courting pot-bellied seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel" and "Rosie"). 13.3 m.

Courting pot-bellied seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel" and "Rosie"). 13.2 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Noel"). 13.4 m.

Courting pot-bellied seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel" and "Rosie"). 13.5 m.

Courting pot-bellied seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel" and "Rosie"). 13.4 m.

Courting pot-bellied seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel" and "Rosie"). 13.5 m.

Red-fingered angler, Porophryne erythrodactylus, ("Kim"). 12.2 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Arnold"). 12.4 m.

Courting pot-bellied seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel" and "Rosie"). 13.2 m.

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 13 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel"). 13.2 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Daniel"). 13.3 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Mikhail"). 10.4 m.

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Di"). 10.2 m.

Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Mikhail"). 10.5 m.

Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Di"). 10.3 m.