Dive Details
Location
Date
Tuesday 12 January 2016
Time
11:02am - 12:36pm
Details
It was very hot and calm at Bare Island. The tide was very high when we got in so we used the ramp for entry. We swam along the surface before descending to the sand. We followed the sand line past the outboard motor, up over the ledge and along the boulders to the top of the slope. We swam down the slope to the rocks with the pink sea tulips. I found the female pygmy pipehorse (IL2015121401) on the top of the second rock. Kim found the juvenile pygmy pipehorse (IL2015121901) on the other side of that rock. I then looked for the juvenile low down on the third rock. I didn't find it but I did find a new juvenile (IL2016011201) right down near the sand. Kim found a red indianfish on the first rock.
We continued down the slope. We stopped at the rock above Pygmy Rock to look for the pygmies that had been there but after much searching we couldn't find them.
I went all the way down the slope to the white male (IL2015081403) and drab female (IL2015081402) pygmy pipehorses. I then had a quick look in front of the caves but didn't find any pygmies.
I headed back up the slope and found a small eastern frogfish on the way up. I met up with Kim again near Pygmy Rock. She was heading for the exit and I stayed to look for the missing pygmies but still couldn't find them. I swam back via the rocks with pink sea tulips to see the pygmies.
I ascended to 5 metres and swam to the exit doing my safety stop along the way. I exited at the ramp and Kim was there waiting. I had been cold on the dive and was looking forward to the heat when I got out but the weather had changed and it was cold and windy.
Buddy
Kim Dinh
Seas
Slight
Visibility
3 to 5 metres
Duration
94 minutes
Maximum depth
14.2 m
Average depth
10.2 m
Water temperature
17.1°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEDT
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
Low
4:14am
0.39m
High
10:43am
1.90m
Low
5:19pm
0.21m
High
11:20pm
1.46m
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.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 7.6 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 7.5 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 7.6 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 7.5 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121401). 10.1 m.
Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121901). 10.2 m.
Red indianfish, Pataecus fronto. 10.1 m.
Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016011201). 10.8 m.
Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016011201). 10.9 m.
Nudibranch, Verconia verconis. 11.2 m.
Nudibranch, Hypselodoris obscura. 11.7 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081402). 13.3 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 13.3 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 13.4 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081403). 13.3 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081402). 13.2 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015081402). 13 m.
Eastern frogfish, Batrachomoeus dubius. 13 m.
Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016011201). 10.7 m.
Juvenile Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121901). 10.1 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2015121401). 9.6 m.