Dive Details

Location

Date

Sunday 11 November 2018

Time

11:44am - 1:44pm

Seas

Slight

Visibility

5 to 10 metres

Duration

120 minutes

Surface interval

 0:48 (hh:mm)

Maximum depth

13.9 m

Average depth

10.7 m

Water temperature

17°C
                                       

Dive Profile from Garmin Descent Mk1

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

Low

4:54am

0.54m

High

11:25am

1.71m

Low

6:06pm

0.41m

Details

For my second I dived The Monument again but this time with the outgoing tide.

I got in front of the flagpoles, waded through the small channel and surface swam out to the start of the East-West Wall. I got in early so I wouldn't get too hot in my drysuit but it took less time than I expected to swim out. I waited on the surface for a while but gave up and descended with only a 48 minute surface interval. I descended to the start of the wall. The visibility was down a little from the earlier dive but was still 5 to 10 metres. The water temperature was around 17°C. There was no current or surge. I headed east along the base of the wall.

I swam past the basket star and continued along the base of the wall to the isolated rock with Mandy's pygmy pipehorses. As I'd only been here a little over an hour ago I had no problem finding them again.

I continued along the base of the wall until the area where the yellowish White's seahorse has been. I didn't spend much time looking for her on the previous dive as I didn't have a lot of time. I spent more time and it paid off as I found her in a large orange finger sponge.

From here all the way to the area where "Sunshine" used to be, I looked for the great seahorse. It has been some weeks since I last saw her and I have to assume she's moved on.

At the shelf near the end of the wall I looked for the pygmy pipehorses again but only found the same male I'd seen on the previous dive. I had a good look and assume the others have gone.

I swam on to the large Carijoa covered rock and found the large orange red-fingered anglerfish in the same spot it has been for weeks. It had changed its orientation since the previous dive.

I headed straight over the corner and down to the Carijoa covered rocks. I looked closely at them for pygmy pipehorses. All I found was a tiny juvenile eastern smooth boxfish.

I continued to the base of the NW-SE Wall and the isolated rocks on the sand. On the one farthest from the wall I found the male pygmy pipehorse I'd seen on the first dive. I looked near him and spotted the female.

As I was swimming away from the rock I looked at the slope towards the wall and spotted a male pygmy pipehorse. I looked around the area nearby and spotted a female.

I swam slowly along the reef looking for more pygmy pipehorses but didn't find any before I reached the grey red-fingered anglerfish. It was in its usual hole but had also changed its orientation since the first dive.

I continued along the reef past Split Rock and on to the slope below Seahorse Rock. I expected to see the brown female White's seahorse at the red plate sponge but she'd moved. I eventually found her on a green hand sponge.

I looked around the area near slope rock for pygmy pipehorses and even swam down to Carijoa Rock but found none. I spotted a small Nembrotha sp. nudibranch on an ascidian on Carijoa Rock.

I then swam along the kelp looking for weedy seadragons as far as the start of the Deep Wall. I swam up over the wall to the rock near the top. I also spotted the male pygmy pipehorse where I'd seen it on the first dive. I looked for a female but couldn't find one. As I headed to drop over the wall I spotted the small Nembrotha purpureolineata nudibranch I'd see on the first dive.

I dropped over the wall and swam along to where I'd seen "Gilligan", the brown male pot-bellied seahorse, on the first dive. He'd moved to different sea tulips. I again looked around for "Ginger" but could not find her.

I swam along the wall to the end and looked for the orange red-fingered anglerfish. I could not find either of them.

I headed up to the spot where the pygmy pipehorses I'd found two weeks ago were. The male hadn't moved but I couldn't see the female. While I was looking for her, I spotted another male on the adjacent rock. I then found the female right down in the crevice. I then looked for a partner for the new male and found her, too.

I checked my computers. The Mk1 said I still had 5 or so minutes of NDL left but the Perdix had me just in Deco and the Atom required me to do 6 minutes at 3 metres. I guess that's what happens when I only do a 48 minute surface interval.

I sloowly made my way to 5 metres and but the time I got there I had cleared deco on the Perdix and it only required a 5 minute safety stop. The Atom still wanted 6 minutes at 3 metres. I stayed at 5 metres and swam to spot just before the exit and waited out my safety stop. The Atom was now down to 1 minute at 3 metres so I went to around 4 metres until it cleared. I then surface and walked out onto the shelf. I waded out from here.