Dive Details

Location

Logged dive number

1175

Date

Saturday 4 June 2016

Time

9:02am - 10:28am

Seas

Slight

Visibility

5 to 8 metres

Duration

85 minutes

Surface interval

 2 days 18:13 (days hh:mm)

Maximum depth

14.7 m

Average depth

9.5 m

Water temperature

18.8°C
                                       

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

1:21am

0.31m

High

7:20am

1.59m

Low

1:13pm

0.36m

High

7:43pm

2.02m

Details

This was going to be my only dive of the weekend. With a massive storm coming through, I could only get this in before the huge swells hit. As it was the swell was already over 3 metres but as it was from the north east, Bare Island was well protected. There was hardly a ripple on the north west side of the island even though I could see Kurnell on the other side of the bay was being hammered. This dive was also a test of my "new" dry suit.

I got in at the ramp and was blown away by how good the visibility was. It was at least 5 metres right there and then. I thought it would get worse the further I got. It didn't. I dropped down to the sand and the viz was as good if not better! There was almost no surge, too.

I headed along the kelp and stopped at the point where Kim had shown me the sea spiders back in March. I looked but couldn't find them.

I continued on past the outboard, over the shelf and along the sand in front of the boulders. I looked for pygmy pipehorses along the way but found none. At the top of the slope I check the rock with the purple sponge and found a well camouflaged male pygmy pipehorse. I looked right round the rock and eventually found and equally camouflaged female. I was pretty pleased to find two so early in the dive.

I headed down the slope and checked the second and third rocks with sea tulips for pygmy pipehorses. I found none in the usual spots. It had been over 2 months since I last dived there so I don't know if any have been around.

I continued down the slope checking all the spots where I have previously seen pygmy pipehorses, the rock above Pygmy Rock, the rock above the upside-down pipefish, the rock where the white pygmies were for a long time and finally New Pygmy Rock on the corner. I didn't find a single pygmy - or any anglers. What was amazing was that the viz was still at least 5 metres and there was almost no surge.

I turned and made my way back up the slope checking the same locations again. I stopped at the rock with the purple sponge and found both pygmies again. I then headed across the sand in front of the boulders and started my safety stop while swimming to the exit. I got out just to the west of the ramp.

The dry suit went very well other than the small hole in the right wrist seal. It was very comfortable other than the water making it up my arm and down my chest. That will be fixed by the next dive.