Dive Details

Location

Date

Monday 2 April 2018

Time

9:05am - 10:28am

Details

For my last dive of the Easter weekend I joined Mike, Di and Noel for a dive at The Steps. I also joined Daniela and Kylie later in the dive. Conditions had been great all weekend and the entry/exit at The Steps looked very calm.

We jumped in at The Steps and the other three descended while I was still getting my camera ready. Once I was ready I also descended and headed for the sand line. The visibility was at least 15 metres and there was almost no surge. There was also barely any current although what little there was seemed to be going against the tide. I turned right and went looking for the others.

I hadn't gone very far over the kelp when I spotted a weedy seadragon. I took some ID shots and continued towards Big Rock. I caught up to Mike near the large orange finger sponge on the sand line. Because the visibility was so good I was able to see Noel and Di in the distance.

I swam straight to the yellow red-fingered anglerfish. It was still in the same spot it has been for a little over a week. Mike called me back to the large orange finger sponge. He'd found a Nembrotha sp. nudibranch near it. There was also a weedy seadragon there.

I continued on towards Little Big Rock. There were a few other divers around behind Little Big Rock. Fortunately, they were not around the white female pygmy pipehorse so I was able to take photographs of her. I had to wait to take photographs of the cryptic male on the rock above as there was another diver there. Mike was still behind me and Noel and Di had gone on ahead.

I swam around the outside of Little Big Rock looking for interesting things but found nothing. Between Little Big Rock and Diversity Rock I found a Nembrotha purpureolineata nudibranch on a tunicate. While I was there Daniela and Kylie swam up. I asked them if they'd seen the yellow anglerfish and they hadn't so we swam back to it and I pointed it out. I then told them I'd show them the White's seahorse so we headed quite quickly to the rock it was on. Swimming was so enjoyable because the visibility was so good. It was amazing how much we could see.

We swam back towards the sand line and stopped at Square Rock to see the white male pygmy pipehorse. Mike caught up to us there. I looked around the rocks for the Miamira magnifica but couldn't find it. We dropped down to the rock below Hand Rock and I found the whitish male pygmy pipehorse. I couldn't find the female. I showed the girls.

Daniela showed me a grey anglerfish photograph on her camera and I asked her to show me so we turned around and headed back to Little Big Rock. I looked for red pipefish along the way. The grey red-fingered anglerfish was on the inside of Little Big Rock. It was so obvious I must have missed it because I swam along the outside. Daniela told me after the dive that she only saw it because another diver was taking photographs. Kylie and Daniela left me at this point.

I swam up to look at the white female pygmy pipehorse behind Little Big Rock. She was hiding. While I was looking for her, I noticed the tail of another one wrapped around one of the purple sponges. It was a male and I assume her partner. I also checked out the cryptic male on the rock above.

I hung around the area for a while waiting for Mike so I could show him the grey anglerfish and the male pygmy pipehorse. He didn't come and I was running low on air.

I swam past the yellow anglerfish before heading up past various sponge covered rocks and on to the boulders. I ascended to 5 metres and started my safety stop while swimming to Split Rock. I finished my safety stop at Split Rock and then swam underwater right to the exit. The exit was easy because the tide was high and the swell low.

Buddy

Mike Scotland, Di and Noel Conlon, Kylie Lightowler, Daniela Stark

Seas

Slight

Visibility

15 to 20 metres

Duration

83 minutes

Maximum depth

15.6 m

Average depth

11.6 m

Water temperature

18.9°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

3:29am

0.36m

High

9:37am

1.64m

Low

3:41pm

0.40m

High

9:57pm

1.71m