Dive at The Monument, Kurnell, NSW on Tuesday 16 February 2016

Dive Details

Location

Date

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Time

11:32am - 1:11pm

Details

We got in with Noel and Di in the small bay around the corner from the flagpoles. Noel and Di went off first and then Mike and I descended to the sponge garden. We went straight to the sand line and then turned towards The Steps. We were hunting ghostpipefish.

We swam along the wall and came to "Fred", the male pot-bellied seahorse, on a sponge on the wall. This was the same place I'd seen him on Australia Day. I looked around for the female, "Bia", but could not locate her. Di was in the area so I pointed "Fred" out to her and then to Mike.

We headed further towards The Steps. I stayed low, close to the sand line, in the hope of finding a ghostpipefish. I then headed back for another look for "Bia" while waiting for Mike. I didn't find her and Mike didn't show up so I went looking for him. When I got within range Mike signalled to me and beckoned me. When I swam up he pointed out a beautiful golden female pot-bellied seahorse. I will call her "Deborah". She was quite big so I figured there would be one or two males close by. I found one male, "Michael", almost immediately and pointed him out to Mike. I then swam around the area until I found a second male, "Duncan". This supports my hypothesis that if I find a female there's likely to be one or more males nearby.

We turned and headed back towards The Monument. I stopped at the wall to have another look for "Bia" but "Fred" was not on the sponge I'd seen him on previously. I couldn't find him or "Bia".

As I headed past the wall I spotted a weedy seadragon (PT2016021601) and then a second (PT2016021602). It is good to see weedy seadragons at The Monument again. We kept on our way and bumped into Noel and Di who were on their way back from the bommies. We weren't to know it until we got out but Noel had found on the bommies a red-fingered angler and a small seahorse that looks a lot like Hippocampus hystrix. Noel, Di and Mike headed for the exit but I continued on as I wanted to go around the corner. I wish I'd looked at the bommies.

I cut the corner past where we'd previously seen seahorses and painted anglers and hit the wall following it around to in front of the flag poles. I did my safety stop as I went. I then swam south and got out on the rock right in front of the flag poles.

Buddy

Mike Scotland

Seas

Slight

Visibility

3 to 10 metres

Duration

98 minutes

Maximum depth

13.4 m

Average depth

10.1 m

Water temperature

21.2°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

High

3:33am

1.57m

Low

10:08am

0.54m

High

4:07pm

1.26m

Low

10:05pm

0.55m

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.