Dive Details

Location

Date

Saturday 3 June 2017

Time

12:07pm - 1:48pm

Details

We jumped in at The Leap. It was too rough for the low platform so I slid down the wall. Roney and Dama only had 12.2L tanks with air and didn't want to spend too much time in the deep so agreed to meet up further along (we didn't so this was basically a solo dive).

I descended and swam at around 30° to the sand line. On the way, it looked promising. There was quite a bt of surge but the visibility was 5 metres or better... until I reached the sand line. At the sand line the visibility dropped to around 3 metres or less, the surge was quite strong and the water temperature was under 18°C. I was so glad I went for the drysuit. I turned left and headed towards The Steps.

I had a quick look on Ian's Pygmy Rock for pygmies but the surge made it difficult. I swam on to Seahorse Rock and briefly met up with Dama and Roney while I looked for Roney's black angler on a rock behind Seahorse Rock. I couldn't see it.

Between Seahorse Rock and Bent Stick Rock I have seen three weedy seadragons of late and was expecting to see them today. I found one hiding in a small cave on the sand line. It was very difficult to photograph with the surge. I looked around for the other two but could not see them.

Just past Bent Stick Rock I found the Ceratosoma brevicaudatum nudibranch. It is interesting that it has stayed on this wrong for a few weeks now.

I stopped at Southern Cross Rock and found a whitish male pygmy pipehorse and a brown female. Photographing them was nearly impossible with the surge. I was only able to get "proof" shots.

I swam through Seadragon Alley but did not see any weedy seadragons. At the end of Seadragon Alley I looked for the Ardeadoris rubroannuata nudibranch I'd seen on Wednesday but could not see it. While looking in the red algae for pipefish I found a small Nembrotha purpureolineata in one of the alga. I was quite surprised to find on in an alga as they are normally on ascidians.

I continued and just after Big Rock I looked for the pygmy I'd seen before as well as the pipefish that Roney found yesterday. I couldn't find either but with the surge that wasn't surprising.

On the sloping rock I found a cryptic female and the red male pygmy pipehorse. Again photography was very difficult due to the surge. The snot algae didn't help either.

I swam on to Roney's widebody pipefish. It was in the same alga as the previous two occasions.

I headed for Miamira Rock and the basket star. The basket star is still covered in snot algae. I started looking in the red algae for widebody pipefish and found one on a different alga, closer to the basket star. It is probably the same one I'd seen over the last week as it was the only one I could find in the area.

I went to Diversity Rock and found the red male pygmy pipehorse low down near the sea tulips. Again, surge and snot algae made things difficult.

I continued along the sand line to Little Big Rock and had a look for pygmies in the Carijoa colonies which were all covered in snot algae.

A little past Little Big Rock I found a tiny Nembrotha nudibranch. I then swam up to Di's Rock and on to the boulders to start my safety stop. I finished my safety stop at Split Rock and swam to the exit. The exit was reasonably easy but I was glad that Dama was there to take my camera.

Buddy

Roney and Dama Rodrigues

Seas

Surgy

Visibility

3 to 5 metres

Duration

101 minutes

Maximum depth

21.1 m

Average depth

14.1 m

Water temperature

17.5°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

High

3:24am

1.52m

Low

9:55am

0.54m

High

4:22pm

1.49m

Low

10:25pm

0.74m