Dive at The Steps, Kurnell, NSW on Sunday 15 April 2018

Dive Details

Location

Date

Sunday 15 April 2018

Time

7:48am - 9:19am

Details

The tides were not ideal and so a dive today had to be very early and still not have an incoming tide or very late. I went for the early option and Cody joined me. There was a lot of smoke around from the Holsworthy Fire brought in by the strong westerly winds. The winds didn't have much impact on the seas which were flat and the surface water looked very clear.

We jumped in pretty much on high tide and once ready we descended. We swam straight to the sand line where the visibility looked to be around 15 metres. It was a little dark due to the low Sun and smoke from the fire. There was no current and no surge and the water temperature was around 19°C. We turned right and headed towards Big Rock.

I wanted to hug the sand line for the way to Big Rock to look for ghostpipefish and red pipefish. We hadn't gone far when we came across a weedy seadragon.

As we swam along the sand line the temperature dropped to 18°C. We arrived at the rock where the anglerfishes have been and the yellow red-fingered anglerfish was still on the sand line side of the rock as it had on Friday. I looked around the area for other anglerfishes and only found a Nembrotha sp. nudibranch.

We swam on to Little Big Rock and I kept looked for anglerfishes along the way. I found the white female pygmy pipehorse in her usual rock. I looked for the male but couldn't find it. I found the two cryptic pygmy pipehorses on the higher rock.

We continued along the sand line past Diversity Rock. I was still hoping to find some ghostpipefish. I found another weedy seadragon near Old Basket Star Rock.

We swam up to the rock with the one-eyed female White's seahorse and I found her on the shore line side of the rock.

We dropped back to the sand line and I found a nice sized giant cuttlefish just lurking there. We continued to the rock below Hand Rock and I looked for the whitish male pygmy pipehorse at the base of the rock but it wasn't there. He'd been there on Friday. We continued along the sand line just past Big Rock and then swam around Big Rock, again looking for ghostpipefish. I found a Nembrotha purpureolineata nudibranch just on the Steps side of Big Rock. The visibility started to deteriorate as we turned and headed back to The Steps.

We swam up to where the white/pink red-fingered anglerfish used to be but couldn't find it there. I also checked the surrounding rocks.

We came back to the top of the reef where I spotted to juvenile bridled triggerfish again. I visited the one-eyed seahorse before making our way along the top of the reef.

We headed along the top of the reef into current which was quite strong. After swimming past New Basket Star Rock I had a look on the sand for red pipefish but still could not find them.

We swam past Little Big Rock and the three pygmy pipehorses and then on to the yellow red-fingered anglerfish.

The visibility at dropped to around 5 metres by now and I lost Cody. I gradually made my way to the boulders via all the rocks that I've seen anglerfish on in the past. At the boulders I ascended to 5 metres and started my safety stop. Swimming to Split Rock was a little difficult due to the current. I finished my safety stop at Split Rock and then swam underwater to the exit. I surfaced right at the exit and was able to get out easily. I waited at the exit for Cody who was around 10 minutes behind me.

Buddy

Cody Sheridan

Seas

Slight

Visibility

5 to 15 metres

Duration

91 minutes

Maximum depth

15.7 m

Average depth

12.0 m

Water temperature

18.1°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

1:31am

0.46m

High

7:40am

1.67m

Low

1:54pm

0.37m

High

8:07pm

1.70m

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D500

Lens

Nikon AF-S Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G ED

Housing

Ikelite 6812.5

Lens port

Ikelite Flat Port 5502.41

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.