Dive Details

Location

Date

Friday 7 July 2017

Time

2:38pm - 4:32pm

Details

Conditions in Sydney were still fantastic and too good not to make the most of it. I lent Roney my 15L tank with nitrox so he could stay down with me (I'm using a pony) right until the end of the dive.

Mike and I jumped in from the low platform and Roney from the upper shelf. We got together on the surface before descending. We headed to the sand line. As I was swimming I noticed my regulator sounded different but I put it down to the mild cold I had. We got to the sand line and were amazed at the 15 metre visibility we still had. The water temperature was closer to 17°C but I was in a dry suit so it didn't matter to me. There was barely any surge but the current was quite strong. We turned left and headed towards The Steps.

I checked the rock before Ian's Pygmy Rock for the orange red-fingered angler but I'm now sure it is no longer there. I couldn't find any pygmy pipehorses on Ian's Pygmy Rock. I continued on my way to catch up to Roney.

On checking my dive computer I was surprised that the pressure in my tank had barely dropped. At first I thought it was the transmitter but on checking my SPG it said the same thing. I was quite perplexed and was tempted to ask Roney to turn my tank off but I couldn't work out how to tell him and how would I get him to turn it back on. I wasn't too worried as I had my pony and I could easily switch if something went wrong.

We continued on to Bent Stick Rock and on the rock below Bent Stick Rock I found the Ceratosoma brevicaudatum nudibranch and Roney found the Nembrotha sp. nudibranch. Around the corner I found a weedy seadragon. It was at this point that it dawned on me that I had put the wrong regulator in my mouth at the start of the dive and I was using my pony. The necklaces for the two regulators had got tangled and so the pony's reg was on top. I had to take both necklaces off from around my neck and tidy things up. I then told my dive computer I was on the pony, which was now down to 140 bar. With that sorted I was able to continue.

At Southern Cross Rock I found the yellow male pygmy pipehorse. Just after the rock after Southern Cross Rock I found another weedy seadragon. Roney was just ahead of me and pointed out a Nembrotha sp. nudibranch on an ascidian.

We swam through Seadragon Alley but saw no weedies. I found a Nembrotha purpureolineata on an ascian about half-way through. WE also caught up with Mike.

At the end of Seadragon Alley I found the red widebody pipefish with parasite in the red algae. There was also a weedy seadragon nearby. Another weedy seadragon drifted to us. We were then buzzed by a school of large yellow-tail kingfish. They were beautiful to see.

We continued to Big Rock and went up to see the well camouflaged red-fingered angler. We then went below Big Rock to look for pygmy pipehorses on the other side. I found the cryptic male on the rock below Hand Rock and then the pink male on Slope Rock.

We swam on to Miamira Rock, the basket star and the pair of red widebody pipefish. On the way to Diversity Rock I found the large Nembrotha purpureolineata.

At Diversity Rock I found two pygmy pipehorses and then another on the next large rock. I got ahead of Roney at went to Little Big Rock where found two pygmy pipehorses in the Carijoa. I then looked on the adjacent rock for the salmon red-fingered angler but could not see it.

I swam back Roney and asked him to show me the angler. He thought I meant the grey one he'd seen on Wednesday and swam past Little Big Rock. He looked everywhere for the grey red-fingered angler but couldn't find it. While we were looking we were buzzed again by large yellow-tail kingfish. I'm guessing it was the same school.

I then lost Roney. I assumed he was running low on air so I made my way to the exit. (I found out later that he'd gone back to look for the salmon red-fingered angler near Little Big Rock.)

I got to the boulders and started my safety stop. I finished at Split Rock and exited at The Steps. Roney wasn't there so I waited and he was two minutes behind me.

Buddy

Roney Rodrigues, Mike Scotland

Visibility

15 metres

Duration

113 minutes

Maximum depth

21.0 m

Average depth

14.6 m

Water temperature

17.3°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

0.53m

High

7:05am

1.32m

Low

12:42pm

0.58m

High

7:21pm

1.75m