Dive Details

Location

Date

Thursday 9 November 2017

Time

11:01am - 12:34pm

Details

I was unsure what the conditions would be like at Kurnell. I knew that the forecast 1.5m southerly swell would not be a problem but was worried that the larger seas on the previous few days would mess up the visibility. It looked surprisingly good from part way down the stairs. I ended up joining Paula, George and Garry for the dive.

We jumped in at The Steps. We could put our fins on at the shelf and walk/fall in because the tide was quite high. After grouping on the surface we descended to the sand line. Visibility was at least 15 metres and water temperature was around 19°C. The incoming current was quite strong and there was quite a bit of surge. We turned right and headed towards Big Rock.

We hadn't gone far at all when George pointed out a male weedy seadragon in the kelp. I almost didn't see it. He didn't have any eggs. A little farther along I spotted another male weedy and this one had eggs. They were older eggs and had some algae on them but it didn't look like they were ready to hatch.

I stopped at the pair of red widebody pipefish and was going to show them to George but he was too far ahead and I couldn't attract his attention. When I caught up to him he showed me a Nembrotha sp. nudibranch.

We swam on to Little Big Rock. I found the orange painted angler just above and slightly past Little Big Rock and showed it to Paula. I then looked around the area for the other anglers. I didn't find any anglers but I did find another male weedy seadragon with eggs. This one's eggs were quite new.

We continued on towards Big Rock. I stopped at Diversity Rock and looked for pygmies but didn't find any. I looked on a number of other rocks in the area but was still not able to find any. I'm not sure what I'll show Malcolm on Saturday.

As we approached Old Basket Star Rock, George indicated he had 80 bar and was turning around with Paula and Garry. I still had 140 bar so I continued to Big Rock. I checked out more rocks along the way but still could not find any pygmy pipehorses.

At the rock below Hand Rock I looked for the black painted angler but could not see it. It was a little difficult to look due to the surge and current but I don't think I missed it. I also looked for pygmy pipehorses on the rock and found none. I looked around the area for the angler but did not spot it.

On Big Rock I found my pink male pygmy pipehorse and his partner was nearby. I then looked for Roney's male pygmy pipehorse, finding him but not his partner. I had another look around for other pygmies and anglers before heading back to The Steps.

I followed the reef just up from the sand line and then at Old Basket Star Rock I cut in to Miamira Rock and New Basket Star Rock. The basket star was on its usual white honeycomb sponge.

I swam on past Diversity Rock and stopped at the orange painted angler for some more photographs. I was going to try some video but the surge was too strong and I couldn't find a suitable site to brace the camera. I again looked around the area for other anglers but found none.

I followed the sand line to the pair of red widebody pipefish and took some more photos. I then swam around the area looking for anglers but found none. I headed for the boulders ascended to 5 metres and started my safety stop as I swam to Split Rock. I finished my safety stop at Split Rock and then swam underwater into the pool at the exit point. I could see quite large waves hitting the exit but I also saw how much water there was over the shelf and knew all I had to do was get my fins off and stand up. I timed it perfectly, swimming on to the shelf on my knees, removing my fins and standing up in almost one movement. George and Garry were there to help but I got out with ease. Apparently they got hit by a couple of larger waves when they exited.

Buddy

George & Paula Borovskis, Garry Bowden

Seas

Surgy

Visibility

15 to 20 metres

Duration

92 minutes

Maximum depth

14.9 m

Average depth

11.9 m

Water temperature

18.7°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

High

1:01am

1.35m

Low

6:42am

0.52m

High

1:07pm

1.79m

Low

8:00pm

0.31m