Dive Details

Location

Date

Saturday 2 September 2017

Time

8:46am - 10:19am

Buddy

John Meredith

Seas

Surge

Visibility

5 to 10 metres

Duration

92 minutes

Surface interval

 19:13:00 (hh:mm)

Maximum depth

7.7 m

Average depth

4.3 m

Water temperature

12.9°C
                                       

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Victor Harbor ACST

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

High

11:26am

1.05m

Low

7:37pm

0.54m

Details

We awoke to calm conditions at Victor Harbor and through it would be best to dive at The Bluff Jetty again while we could but drive to Rapid Bay later in case conditions there had improved. We also knew from a brief chat with Ron at Diving Adelaide that the leafies were around the corner from the jetty so that was where we planned to go.

Conditions at the bay near the jetty were better than yesterday although the water didn't look as clear. We got in at the steps at the western end of the bay and waded as far as we could to the jetty before we hit the rocks. We then surface swam to the jetty avoiding the fishing lines. At the corner we descended and started swimming along the reef. I wasn't sure if we'd be more likely to see the leafy seadragons closer to the sand line or part way up the reef. I went with the latter and was thrilled to find a small one almost immediately. It was absolutely gorgeous but was missing the end of its tail.

A little further along I spotted a second leafy. This one was much bigger.

We continued along the reef but did not see any more leafies before we turned. We came back along the middle of the reef and I found what I believe is the same larger one.

As we approached the jetty, John spotted a medium sized giant cuttlefish hiding on the kelp. He played with it for a while before we continued to the jetty. I stayed underwater and swam across the bay over the seagrasses looking for the cowfish from yesterday but couldn't find them. I surfaced just to the east of the steps and waded out. John surfaced a little farther east than me.

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D7000

Lens

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR +5 diopter

Housing

Ikelite 6801.70

Lens port

Ikelite 6" Dome Port 5503.50

Strobe

2 x Ikelite SubStrobe DS161

Photographs


Depth information, where present, indicates the depth of the camera when the photograph was taken and can be used to approximate the depth of the subject.

Juvenile leafy seadragon, Phycodurus eques. 6.2 m.
 

Juvenile leafy seadragon, Phycodurus eques. 6.3 m.
 

Leafy seadragon, Phycodurus eques.