Dive Details
Location
Date
Monday 15 February 2016
Time
11:08am - 12:46pm
Details
Another perfect day for diving at The Leap. There was almost no swell and the bay looked calm. All three of us got in from the low platform, descended and swam at around 30° towards the sand line. The visibility was around 10 metres and it was warmer than the previous 2 days at around 18°C. We arrived near the rock where "Bob" and "Lucy" were last seen.
We swam along the sand line towards The Steps. We stopped in the area where we'd seen the Miamira magnifica nudibranch with emperor shrimp. Mike found it first. It posed nicely for us.
I headed on slowly looking for ghostpipefish when I found a bent stick pipefish just before Seahorse Rock. I also found a weedy seadragon (PT2015062401) nearby.
Just after Seahorse Rock I spotted a robust ghostpipefish. This was the fourth robust in 3 days and 6th ghostpipefish this month. It must be ghostpipefish season.
We continued on to Seadragon Alley and only saw two weedy seadragons: a male with some eggs (PT2014030803) and the female with the cut first appendage (PT2013122201). I then found the same robust ghostpipefish Noel had pointed out yesterday.
After Seadragon Alley, we saw four more weedy seadragons: a juvenile from last year (PT2015051001), a new one I hadn't seen before (PT2016021501), the male I'd seen yesterday (PT2014091301) with a tail hanging out of an egg. It looked the same as yesterday so I suspect the baby is dead. Just before Big Rock was another male weedy (PT2014123002) but he no longer had eggs.
After Big Rock I looked for the two lone robust ghostpipefish I'd seen yesterday. I only managed to find the one close to the basket star.
Eddie and I swam on to Diversity Rock. I found "Arnold" in the sponges on the rock behind Diversity Rock and "Noel" low down on the left side of the same rock. "Rosie" was on the large high rock to the left. I couldn't find "Daniel". The ornate ghostpipefish was in the kelp in front of Diversity Rock. I only had time to find one pygmy pipehorse, the whitish male in the Carijoa. I couldn't see the angler.
We swam on towards the other seahorses. On the way I spotted one of the Miamira magnifica nudibranchs but could not see the other. I found "Di" and "Mikhail" on their usual rock. I then made a bee line to the boulders to start my safety stop as I was in deco but I did spot another weedy (PT2014123003) on the way to the boulders. I did a nine minute stop before exiting at The Steps.
Buddy
Mike Scotland, Eddie Ivers
Seas
Slight
Visibility
10 to 15 metres
Duration
97 minutes
Maximum depth
21.3 m
Average depth
14.9 m
Water temperature
17.7°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEDT
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
High
2:29am
1.58m
Low
8:52am
0.51m
High
2:52pm
1.36m
Low
9:00pm
0.50m
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.
Emperor shrimp, Zenopontonia rex, on nudibranch, Miamira magnifica. 20.4 m.
Emperor shrimp, Zenopontonia rex, on nudibranch, Miamira magnifica. 20.5 m.
Nudibranch, Miamira magnifica, with commensal emperor shrimp, Zenopontonia rex. 20.5 m.
Emperor shrimp, Zenopontonia rex, on nudibranch, Miamira magnifica. 20.6 m.
Bent stick pipefish, Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus. 21.1 m.
Bent stick pipefish, Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus. 21 m.
Robust ghostpipefish, Solenostomus cyanopterus. 20.4 m.
Robust ghostpipefish, Solenostomus cyanopterus. 20.6 m.
Robust ghostpipefish, Solenostomus cyanopterus. 20.5 m.
Juvenile giant cuttlefish, Sepia apama. 19 m.
Juvenile giant cuttlefish, Sepia apama. 19.1 m.
Juvenile comb wrasse, Coris picta. 18.6 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014030803). 17.3 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2013122201). 17.7 m.
Robust ghostpipefish, Solenostomus cyanopterus. 17 m.
Robust ghostpipefish, Solenostomus cyanopterus. 17 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2015051001). 14.7 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2016021501). 13 m.
Dead baby on tail of male weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014091301). 14.3 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014123002). 13.5 m.
Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 13 m.
Robust ghostpipefish, Solenostomus cyanopterus. 14.7 m.
Ornate ghostpipefish, Solenostomus paradoxus. 13.4 m.
Ornate ghostpipefish, Solenostomus paradoxus. 13.2 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Rosie"). 12.4 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Arnold"). 12.4 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Noel"). 12.7 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016011002). 12.6 m.
Ornate ghostpipefish, Solenostomus paradoxus. 13.5 m.
Nudibranch, Miamira magnifica. 11.8 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Mikhail"). 10.4 m.
Male pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Mikhail"). 10.2 m.
Female pot-bellied seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Di"). 10.4 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2014123003). 9.6 m.
False cleanerfish, Aspidontus taeniatus. 4.9 m.