Dive Details

Location

Date

Saturday 8 December 2018

Time

7:51am - 9:43am

Seas

Strong current at times

Visibility

10 to 15 metres

Duration

112 minutes

Surface interval

 5 days 17:55 (days hh:mm)

Maximum depth

21.7 m

Average depth

15.2 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

3:10am

0.48m

High

9:45am

1.79m

Low

4:22pm

0.34m

High

10:16pm

1.32m

Details

I had worked all week and was desperate for a dive at my favourite site, The Leap. I planned a double dive with a second one at The Monument on the outgoing tide.

I jumped in and swam out on the surface before descending. I swam at around 50° towards the sand line, arriving at the amphitheatre. The visibility was 10 to 15 metres and there wasn't much surge. The water temperature was around 17°C.

I swam into the Field of Pygmies and on to the first rock where I know there are pygmies. I found the original male first and then found his partner almost immediately. That was a change as she has been difficult to find. I took some photographs of her and swam to the other end of the rock to find the other pair. They were together which was nice to see.

On my way to Bob & Lucy Rock I looked for the small female I'd found last Saturday. I found the rock but was not able to see the pygmy after much searching.

When I got to Bob & Lucy Rock I found the male straight away. I then found the female who was not very far away.

I continued along the sand line to Ian's Pygmy Rock. I looked on the adjacent rock for the pair I'd found last week. After a bit of searching I found them both.

I looked on the large rock just before Seahorse Rock for the pygmies I'd seen a couple of weeks ago but I could not find them.

I swam past Seahorse Rock and on to the flat rocks with sponges. I found three weedy seadragons there, two males (one of which was "Clyde") and a female. This was the first time I'd seen "Clyde" in months. Neither male had eggs.

I looked at the rock above the weedy seadragons. I found both the upper male and female pygmies in their usual spot in the algae. I was able to find the lower male but not the female. I couldn't find her last week, either.

I was running close to my NDL again so I stayed high while I swam past Southern Cross Rock and on to Seadragon Alley. As I was swimming through Seadragon Alley I spotted the large juvenile weedy seadragon. I dropped down to the sand/kelp to photograph it and then ascended a few metres after I'd finished.

I stayed up off the sand until I got to the algae where I'd last seen the red Stigmatopora sp. pipefish. I looked for them but was not able to find them.

I went higher up the reef as I swam to Big Rock. I swam over the top of Big Rock and then dropped down to the rock below Hand Rock. I looked for the pygmy pipehorses I have seen there. I found the male first. After a bit of searching I found the female, too. I ended up on deco while photographing the pygmies.

I ascended to the top of the reef and swam as high as I could while still looking on the rocks. I spotted a weedy seadragon. It wasn't the male with eggs but appears to be another male. I then spotted the male with eggs. His eggs were new on 20 November so they would now be 18 days old.

I swam past the basket star and on to Little Big Rock. I passed the comb wrasse on the way.

At Little Big Rock I couldn't find the salmon red-fingered anglerfish. It had been there with its eggs last Sunday. I couldn't stay for long as I was in deco but I would have loved to have looked for the juveniles. I did spot the large yellow red-fingered anglerfish on the nearby rock.

I looked for the pygmy pipehorses on the large rock behind Little Big Rock but was not able to find them. I didn't spend a whole lot of time as I was in deco.

I stayed high again until I reached the hole where the pipefishes have been. I dropped to the sand and looked in the hole to see two sawtooth pipefish. I managed to get photographs one of them. I couldn't tell at the time but after looking at the photographs it was a male with eggs.

I headed to the seahorses. I found "Jodi", the yellow pot-bellied seahorse, next to the white honeycomb sponge on the rock adjacent to where she normally is. I looked around for "Stephen" but I was not able to find him. I had seen "Stephen" last Sunday so hopefully he's just hiding.

I started heading for the exit and spotted a weedy seadragon in the kelp. I stopped to take photographs before continuing. I looked for the orange red-fingered anglerfish with dark eyes but could not find it.

I ascended to Split Rock and did my safety stop. I had already cleared deco so it was just a regular 5 minute safety stop. I then swam underwater to the exit and got out.