Dive Details

Location

Date

Friday 4 May 2018

Time

9:41am - 11:24am

Details

This was my first dive of May and I hadn't dived since Sunday so I was keen for a dive. Mike joined me. It was relatively calm at both The Steps and The Leap although there was some wind which was forecast to pick up during the day.

We both got in from the low platform although we had to time getting on to the platform as there were some powerful waves washing over the platform. We swam out on the surface and when ready we descended. We swam at around 30° to the sand line and arrived near Lucy and Bob Rock. Visibility was around 10 metres and there was only a gentle surge. The water temperature was around 20°C and there wasn't much current. We turned left and headed towards The Steps.

We spotted a weedy seadragon before Seahorse Rock. Mike spotted a female just after Rosie's Rock and while I was waiting for him to photograph her, I spotted "Clyde" back a bit before Rosie's Rock. We saw a fourth weedy near the flat rocks with sponges.

We swam on to Southern Cross Rock. Mike got there before me and was looking for pygmy pipehorses. I looked around the top of Southern Cross Rock while Mike was with the pygmies, although it turns out he didn't find them. After Mike swam on, I dropped down and found first the golden male and then the white female.

Just before the start of Seadragon Alley I spotted a clown toby out on the sand. Shortly into Seadragon Alley I spotted an adult weedy seadragon. I caught up to Mike near where the juvenile weedy has been. We looked around but couldn't find it. I started looking for ghostpipefish and found a pair in a hollow between three rocks. The conditions were calm so I was able to get some good photographs. I pointed them out to Mike and went looking for the juvenile weedy again. I spotted the same weedy again and then saw two painted stinkfish interacting. I thought they might be about to spawn but they stopped what they were doing.

I headed to the end of Seadragon Alley looking for ghostpipefish. Mike had gone on ahead. I found the red Stigamatopora sp. pipefish in front of the rock with the sponges.

I swam along the sand line for a while mindful I was getting close to my NDL. I spotted another weedy seadragon, a female, on the sand. She looked like she had mucus on her. I also spotted a juvenile halfmoon triggerfish.

As I approached Big Rock, Mike called me shallower and then pointed at one of the larger rocks. There was a bright orange red-fingered anglerfish that was so obvious.

I caught up to Mike again on the other side of Big Rock. He was photographing a Nembrotha purpureolineata nudibranch. I swam over to the rock below Hand Rock and fond the white/pink red-fingered anglerfish was still there. I called and called to Mike to show him but he didn't hear me. I waited until he swam past and signalled to him but he still didn't hear me. I checked for the white male pygmy pipehorse at the base of the rock but it was gone. I photographed the Nembrotha purpureolineata nudibranch before moving on.

I wasn't sure I'd remembered the location of the orange red-fingered anglerfish that Mike had just shown me so I swam back to make sure I knew.

I swam on to the one-eyed seahorse and found her in the sea tulips. I was nearly into deco so I swam up from the sand line but when I spotted a weedy seadragon I headed down to the sand to take photographs. I also saw a juvenile Guenther's butterflyfish.

I swam up to the basket star which is still on the red chimney sponge and continued up from the sand line. I then spotted another weedy just past Diversity Rock and so headed down to take photographs. This put me just into deco which was fine as I still had plenty of gas.

I looked for the pygmy pipehorses behind Little Big Rock but couldn't find them.

I swam on to the orange red-fingered anglerfish which was in its usual spot on the side of the rock. After I finished taking photographs of the anglerfish I headed for the boulders as I had to do a 1 minute deco stop at 3 metres. I was getting shallower as I went and the deco cleared on both the Perdix and the Descent before I reached 5 metres. The Perdix still had me doing a 5 minute safety stop so I started that while swimming to Split Rock. I finshed the 5 minute safety stop and then did another 5 at 3 metres to make my Atom 3.0 happy before swimming to the exit and getting out on the platform.

Buddy

Mike Scotland

Seas

Slight

Visibility

5 to 10 metres

Duration

102 minutes

Maximum depth

21.6 m

Average depth

14.7 m

Water temperature

19.7°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

5:19am

0.52m

High

11:16am

1.32m

Low

4:45pm

0.70m

High

11:15pm

1.68m