Dive Details

Location

Date

Friday 28 July 2017

Time

11:45am - 1:16pm

Details

I hadn't had time on the previous dive to check out Diversity Rock or Little Big Rock. I also hadn't found the two red widebody pipefish. I decided to do a second dive even though conditions were not all that good just to try to find the pipefish.

The wind had picked up and the bay looked quite messy but the swell was still small. I jumped in at The Steps just behind a couple divers from Abyss. He'd lost his GoPro at the exit yesterday and was hoping to find it. He found it on the bottom just after I got in. I descended and headed to the sand line. Visibility had improved slightly but there was a little more surge compared to the first dive. The temperature was still around 17.5°C. I turned right and headed towards Big Rock.

I swam just up from the sand line hoping to find the area where Roney had found the grey angler and perhaps the angler. I found the area but not the angler.

I continued on to Little Big Rock. I looked all around the adjacent rocks for the salmon red-fingered angler but couldn't find it. On Little Big Rock I found two pygmy pipehorses in the Carijoa colonies.

I headed to Diversity Rock. I found the white pygmy pipehorse on the big rock before Diversity Rock. I looked around for the other pygmies I've seen on that rock but could not find any. I then looked on Diversity Rock for pygmies but I couldn't find any. While I was looking the other two divers swam by so I attracted their attention and showed them the white pygmy. It was the first one they'd seen.

I swam on to the area near Miamira Rock to look for the red widebody pipefish. I started looking where I'd seen them Tuesday last week but couldn't see them. I then checked the algae on the other side from where I'd first seen them and found one. I looked all around and couldn't find the other. I then again checked the nearby rock for the grey angler but still couldn't find it.

I headed to Big Rock along the top of the reef. At Slope Rock I looked for pygmies and found none. I did find the pygmy on the rock below Hand Rock. I swam to the other side of Big Rock and looked for the angler again but couldn't find it.

I swam along the top of the reef towards Big Rock. I stopped at Slope Rock and looked for pygmies but didn't find any, not even the one I saw on the earlier dive. At the rock below Hand Rock I found the little pygmy I'd seen earlier.

I went to the other side of Big Rock to look for the angler again but had no luck after looking on the main rock and adjacent rocks.

I headed back towards The Steps on the sand above the main reef. I saw 2 weedy seadragons along the way. I arrived at the rock where the grey angler had been but still couldn't find it. I then checked the one red widebody pipefish. I remembered I hadn't seen the basket star and found it under the sponge it is normally on.

When I next checked my dive computer I realised I had just crept into deco so I headed for shallow water. I swam across the sand hoping to find the weedy seadragon with eggs but didn't find it. By the time I got to the boulders and ascended to 5 metres I had a 4 minute deco stop at 3 metres. I stayed at 5 metres until I reached Split Rock and then stayed there until my 5 minute safety stop was done. I now only had 2 minjutes at 3 metres and so I ascended to 3 metres and stayed 3 minutes for safety. I then swam underwater to the exit. The exit was easy.

Seas

Some surge

Visibility

3-8 metres

Duration

91 minutes

Maximum depth

14.8 m

Average depth

11.4 m

Water temperature

17.0°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

6:01am

0.39m

High

12:14pm

1.46m

Low

6:06pm

0.61m