Dive Details

Location

Date

Saturday 12 November 2016

Time

3:18pm - 4:57pm

Details

It was another very hot day (>30°C) but after the cold water yesterday I was going to wear my drysuit. I reversed the ute into the car park at The Leap so I'd be in the shade while I was getting ready. That worked really well.

I braved the heat and walked down the steps. While it was choppy on the surface due to a strong easterly wind, the low platform was exposed so used it for my entry. The surface water was choppy and not very clear but it was warm, around 19°C. I descended and swam at around 30° to the sand line. The temperature dropped rapidly as I approached the sand line and it ended up being only just over 16°C. I was so glad I was in my drysuit. Visibility was around 10 metres and the current was very strong. There was a lot of loose kelp settled on the sand line and the current was blowing up small clouds of sand. I turned left and headed towards The Steps.

Looking for weedy seadragons was made all the more difficult by the loose kelp but I managed to find one just past Seahorse Rock. I found a second one just below Bent Stick Rock, a third a little farther along and a fourth just before Southern Cross Rock. That was 4 weedy seadragons before Seadragon Alley.

I swam into Seadragon Alley and found another weedy seadragon right at the start. I then found another about a third of the way through in the loose kelp. I kept hoping to find more but that was it for Seadragon Alley.

As I left Seadragon Alley the current was picking up more sand and the visibility started to drop. It was also getting darker either because of clouds or the Sun getting lower in the sky. This made hunting weedy seadragons more difficult due to the loose kelp which got thicker as I passed Big Rock. I checked Hand Rock for pygmy pipehorses but found none. I also closely examined other rocks and was still not able to find any pygmy pipehorses. I was drifting up and down the reef and on the sand near where "Lee", the yellow painted angler, had been I spotted a male weedy seadragon with eggs. This was the one I'd been looking for and he's on his second brood.

I swam on to Basket Star Rock and then in towards the basket star's new location. I only found one Miamira magnifica nudibranch on top of the rock they'd been on. The basket star was on its usual sponge. I swam back to the sand line and on to Diversity Rock. I spotted a second M. magnifica nudibranch just before Diversity Rock. It was on a piece of alga which was odd. I found no seahorses or pygmy pipehorses on or around Diversity Rock.

I followed the sand line all the way to The Steps. I was looking for ghostpipefishes and weedy seadragons. I found another male weedy seadragon with eggs. This is more like Kurnell before the storm. At The Steps I ascended to 5 metres over the boulders and did my safety stop while looking for Split Rock. With my safety stop finished I exited at The Steps.

Seas

Slight

Visibility

5 to 10 metres

Duration

98 minutes

Maximum depth

21.3 m

Average depth

15.1 m

Water temperature

15.1°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

Low

12:40am

0.28m

High

6:59am

1.65m

Low

1:10pm

0.36m

High

7:15pm

1.63m