Dive Details

Location

Date

Friday 14 December 2018

Time

9:53am - 11:30am

Buddy

Malcolm Nobbs

Seas

Some surge

Visibility

3 to 8 metres

Duration

97 minutes

Surface interval

Maximum depth

13.3 m

Average depth

10.8 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.

High

1:54am

1.22m

Low

7:19am

0.73m

High

1:41pm

1.49m

Low

8:36pm

0.53m

Details

Day one of potentially three days of diving with Malcolm. He's writing an article on pygmy pipehorses and needed some specific shots for the article. I agreed to show him some of the beauties at The Monument. We could have gone to The Leap but that would have meant less time with the pygmies.

Conditions were quite calm despite the forecasted 1-1.5m northeasterly swell. We got in at the protected area between the Sutherland Point at The Steps. We waded out, donned our fins and then swam out to the edge of the shelf. When we were ready we descended and headed towards the sand line. The visibility was 5 to 8 metres and there was a small amount of surge. The water temperature was around 17°C.

I got my bearings and we swam to the small orange red-fingered anglerfish. It has been on the same rock since I spotted it a few weeks ago. I took some photographs before letting Malcolm do the same.

We followed the reef past Block Rock and adjacent sponge covered rock and on to Pygmy Hollow. I found the male in the gap behind the white honeycomb sponge. I took some photographs and then pointed him out to Malcolm. I looked for other pygmies in the area. I found another male at the other end of the adjacent rock. I found a cryptic female next to the orange finger sponge just opposite the first male. I pointed them out to Malcolm.

We moved over to Honey's Rock. I found the orange red-fingered anglerfish I'd spotted with Steven Walsh on Tuesday. I took some photographs and pointed it out to Malcolm.

We swam along the Deep Wall. I kept my eye out for more anglerfishes and seahorses. As we swam past the area where the seahorses had been I had a close look to see if they'd returned.

At the end of the wall we headed up and over to the rock where we have seen pygmies in the past. I looked on the rock but found no pygmies.

We continued along the reef to the slope below Seahorse Rock. I looked for "Nia", the brown White's seahorse, on the slope but could not see her.

We followed the reef past Split Rock and on to the rock where the grey red-fingered anglerfish had been. I had a quick look in the hole and could see the grey anglerfish was not there. I looked around the surrounding rocks but could not see it.

We swam down to the Valley of the Pygmies. I went straight to the rock and found the white and red male and pink female and pointed them out to Malcolm. I then went looking for the pygmies on the slope. I first found the most south-eastern pair. Next, I found the reliable male, the cryptic female and her partner. I then found the pink female who is probably the partner of the reliable male. She was under a purple alga. I then circled around the pygmies on the slope photographing them.

When Malcolm had finished with the pygmies on the rock, I pointed out some of the pygmies on the slope and set about taking photographs of those on the rock. I initially couldn't find the female again but eventually found her tucked away. I did one more pass of the slope before we headed off.

We swam to the NW-SE Wall and along it and then up to the top. We cut the corner to the eastern end of the East-West Wall. I was hoping the orange red-fingered anglerfish I'd found last weekend was still there. It was basically in the same spot I'd seen it on Tuesday.

After photographing the orange anglerfish we swam up and along the wall to the west. We did our safety stops and then swam south to the inside of Sutherland Point where we waded out.