Dive Details

Location

Date

Friday 4 August 2017

Time

8:35am - 10:17am

Details

I had wanted to dive in the afternoon on the incoming tide but Mike was going to the Dive Show in the afternoon so we setlled for an early dive. There was a lot of wind but other than the wind chop, the water looked vert calm at The Steps.

We jumped in at The Steps and once we were ready we descended. I went straight out to the sand line. Mike went a different way and I lost him immediately. The visibility was actually pretty good: between 5 and 10 metres; so I was surprised we lost each other. The water temperature was over 17°C. There was almost no surge but the outgoing tidal current was quite strong. I headed for Big Rock.

I swam just up from the sand line looking for anglers. I checked out Di's Rock and wondered where all the seahorses were. I got to Little Big Rock and looked around the area for the salmon red-fingered angler but couldn't find it. I checked out the Carijoa on Little Big Rock and found a pygmy pipehorse.

I swam on to Miamira Rock and started looking for the red widebody pipefish. I found one to the right of where the pair used to be. As I'd found one to the left last Friday I was hopeful that both were there but when I checked the algae to the left I couldn't find one so perhaps the same one is moving between the algae. I looked for the basket star but it wasn't in its usual spot. I then found it on a white honeycomb sponge on the other side of the nearby rock. I looked all around for the grey red-fingered angler but I could not find it. Mike swam up at this point.

We headed along the reef to Big Rock. The closer we got to Big Rock the worse the visibility got. It also got noticeably colder. I found one pygmy on Slope Rock and another on the rock below Hand Rock. At Big Rock the visibility was less than 3 metres

We swam to the other side of Big Rock and looked for the anglers we'd seen there but came up empty. I did find a Jorunna sp. nudibranch.

I started headed back along the top of the reef and lost Mike again. I continued back to the area where the pair of pipefish were and had another look for both of them but still only found the one on the right side.

I swam back via Diversity Rock, and the pygmy there; the next rock, and the white pygmy; and finally on to Little Big Rock and the pygmy there. I then headed slowly to the boulders and caught up with Mike again. We did our safety stops while swimming to Split Rock and exited at The Steps.

Buddy

Mike Scotland

Seas

Slight

Visibility

2 to 10 metres

Duration

101 minutes

Maximum depth

14.1 m

Average depth

11.3 m

Water temperature

16.5°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

12:15am

0.58m

High

5:58am

1.24m

Low

11:34am

0.60m

High

6:15pm

1.64m