Dive Details
Location
Date
Sunday 10 April 2016
Time
10:41am - 12:25pm
Details
Sam and I got in at the steps and swam out onto the sand. As this was my first dive at The Pipeline, I didn't actually know where the pipe was so we just swam around on the sand to the east of the pipe (which I realised later). As we headed into deeper water we came on the pipe and followed it out for a while. We found all sorts of interesting critters. Sam is a great spotter.
Sam let me know she was low on air so we started to follow the pipe back to shore. Along the way she nonchalantly pointed out a blue-ringed octopus. I got some photos of it before it swam off an disappeared. Sam also believes she saw a blue-ribbon eel but we were unable to find it again.
I dropped Sam at the steps and as I still had some air left, went back out with Trish. We followed the pipe down to pretty much where we'd got to earlier. I found an adult thorny-back cowfish. I tried to find the blue-ribbon eel and the blue-line octopus again but had no luck.
We turned and headed back along the pipe to the exit.
Buddy
Samantha Camilleri, Trish the Trainer
Seas
Slight
Visibility
5 to 10 metres
Duration
92 minutes
Maximum depth
13.1 m
Average depth
8.5 m
Water temperature
20.6°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Port Stephens AEST
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
Low
4:31am
0.18m
High
10:41am
1.57m
Low
4:32pm
0.31m
High
10:59pm
1.87m
Camera gear
Camera
Nikon D300
Lens
Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D
Housing
Ikelite 6812.3
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.
Tiger pipefish, Filicampus tigris. 8.5 m.
Tiger pipefish, Filicampus tigris. 8.7 m.
Tiger pipefish, Filicampus tigris. 8.7 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 8.9 m.
Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 9.1 m.
Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 9.3 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 9.4 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 8.3 m.
Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 7.3 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 8.2 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 8.3 m.
Decorator crab, Hyastenus elatus. 7.9 m.
White's seahorse, Hippocampus whitei. 7.7 m.
White's seahorse, Hippocampus whitei. 7.7 m.
White's seahorse, Hippocampus whitei. 7.6 m.
White's seahorse, Hippocampus whitei. 7.6 m.
Common Sydney octopus, Octopus tetricus. 9.7 m.
Green moray, Gymnothorax prasinus. 11.5 m.
Anemone hermit crab, Dardanus pedunculatus. 11 m.
Nudibranch, Ceratosoma brevicaudatum. 12 m.
Banded coral shrimp, Stenopus hispidus. 12.2 m.
Girdled pipefish, Festucalex cinctus. 12.3 m.
Girdled pipefish, Festucalex cinctus. 12.3 m.
Blue-lined octopus, Hapalochlaena fasciata. 10.2 m.
Blue-lined octopus, Hapalochlaena fasciata. 10.3 m.
Blue-lined octopus, Hapalochlaena fasciata. 10.3 m.
Blue-lined octopus, Hapalochlaena fasciata. 10.3 m.
Thorny-back cowfish, Lactoria fornasini. 12.7 m.
Thorny-back cowfish, Lactoria fornasini. 12.8 m.
Thorny-back cowfish, Lactoria fornasini. 12.8 m.
Thorny-back cowfish, Lactoria fornasini. 12.8 m.
Dwarf lionfish, Dendrochirus brachypterus. 12.6 m.
Thorny-back cowfish, Lactoria fornasini. 12.7 m.
Thorny-back cowfish, Lactoria fornasini. 12.6 m.
Thorny-back cowfish, Lactoria fornasini. 12.6 m.
Thorny-back cowfish, Lactoria fornasini. 12.6 m.
Thorny-back cowfish, Lactoria fornasini. 12.6 m.
Spotted wobbegong, Orectolobus maculatus. 8 m.