Dive Details

Location

Date

Monday 25 September 2017

Time

8:56am - 10:45am

Details

Now that conditions had improved we did The Leap again. There were so many things to look for, including the weedy seadragon with a piece out of his head.

We jumped in, Roney from the top of the shelf and me from the low platform. Once we were ready we descended and swam to the sand line at around 60°. We arrived at the amphitheatre at the rock where I spotted my first pygmy pipehorse 100% on my own. Visibility was down a little from Saturday but still over 5 metres. There was a strong current but very little surge. The water temperature was just below 16°C. We turned left and headed towards The Steps.

We got to Ian's Pygmy Rock and I spotted the little pink male pygmy pipehorse. I looked around for a female but couldn't find one.

We swam past Seahorse Rock and on to the large flat rocks. I looked under the overhang and saw two male weedy seadragons, one with the remnants of eggs and the other with the piece missing from his head. They were sort of swimming together. There was no sign of the two females that had been there. The catfish weren't there either.

We continued on past Bent Stick Rock and I spotted another weedy seadragon immediately below Bent Stick Rock. There was another weedy on the sand just after the rock below Bent Stick Rock.

We swam on to Southern Cross Rock and I started looking for pygmy pipehorses. I found one of the males first and then spotted a female and a male hanging on to the same branch of Carijoa. I was not able to find the other female.

Roney got ahead of me but I caught up to him near the start of Seadragon Alley. He was looking for the little black painted angler he and Dama had spotted on Saturday. He wasn't sure which rock it was on and couldn't find it.

Towards the end of Seadragon Alley I spotted two weedy seadragons swimming together on the sand.

At the end of Seadragon Alley I found both pygmy pipehorses on the rock with the green hand sponges. They were in the same spots they'd been on Saturday.

I swam on 5 or so metres to the alga where I have seen the red widebody pipefish. I think it is the one that had the parasite. I swam straight up to it and started taking photos. Roney was looking around the other red algae in the area and then came up and asked my if there was one or two pipefish. I said one and Roney shook his head and said 2. I looked again and there was a slightly smaller one below the one I was photographing. I was so intent on the one I didn't think to look for any others. This means we have at least 2 pairs.

We swam on to Big Rock. I found my red pygmy straight away even though he'd moved to the other side of the sponge. I then found Roney's pink pygmy. It was pretty much in the same place it had been on Saturday. I need to spend some more time there looking for their females which must be around.

I swam on to the rock below Hand Rock. I found the little black painted angler and went looking for the female pygmy pipehorse only to find a male there with her. They were hanging on the same alga.

Roney and I had a look on Slope Rock for pygmies but found none. We then continued along the reef to New Basket Star Rock. The basket star was on its usual sponge. I had a look for the original red widebody pipefish but couldn't find them.

I swam on to Diversity Rock and found the male pygmy pipehorse. I looked for others but couldn't find any. I also checked the next large rock but found none.

We swam on to Little Big Rock and looked for the pygmies there but could not find any. Roney said he'd seen one there on Saturday but we could not see any today. The large yellow red-fingered angler was still on the adjacent rock.

We followed the reef to the other black painted angler which was still on the same rock. Roney left me at this point and I continued along the sand line.

I came to the alga where the other pair of red widebody pipefish have been and was relieved to find both there. After taking some photographs I headed for the boulders.

On my way to the boulders I bumped into Roney who was looking at a weedfish in the kelp. We then swam to the boulders and started our safety stops. Roney pointed out a slipper lobster he spotted on one of the boulders. I stopped to take photos while Roney continued. I finished my safety stop at Split Rock before swimming to the exit. When I arrived Roney was just getting out. My exit was easy.

Buddy

Roney Rodrigues

Seas

Slight

Visibility

5 to 8 metres

Duration

108 minutes

Maximum depth

21.5 m

Average depth

15.3 m

Water temperature

15.8°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

5:01am

0.52m

High

11:28am

1.53m

Low

5:53pm

0.55m

High

11:48pm

1.28m