Dive Details

Location

Date

Friday 14 December 2018

Time

12:20pm - 1:54pm

Buddy

Malcolm Nobbs

Seas

Some surge

Visibility

3 to 5 metres

Duration

94 minutes

Surface interval

Maximum depth

13.5 m

Average depth

11.3 m

Water temperature

16°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

For our second dive of the day, we did The Monument again but as Malcolm wanted to spend more time in the Valley of the Pygmies we would get it from the small bay area to the south east of Sutherland Point.

The tide was a little higher so it was quite easy to wade out from the bay and it wasn't all that rough. We descended and headed past Seahorse Rock to the slope below. The visibility was a little down from the previous dive but was still around 5 metres. The water temperature was a little lower and was closer to 16°C. These was a gentle surge but basically no current. I had a look for "Nia", the brown White's seahorse, on the slope before we moved on.

We swam along the reef past Split Rock and the rock where the grey red-fingered anglerfish used to be and down to the Valley of the Pygmies. I spotted the most south-eastern pair of pygmies first. The male was hiding in the alga and the female was sort of out in the open. I pointed them out to Malcolm without taking any photographs myself and started looking for other pygmies on the slope. I found the pink female (partner of reliable male?) first. She had moved to the top of the lower rock. I then found the cryptic female. The reliable male was in his usual spot.

I headed up to the rock and found the white and red male and then his partner the pink female. I headed back to the slope to look for the other male and found him hiding in an alga. I then noticed that Malcolm had lost the grey female or at least she'd moved and he couldn't find her. I looked for some time and eventually found her near the top of the rock in a clump of alga that was moving with the surge. I looked for more pygmies on the slope and found a tiny pink juvenile.

I looked on the rock again and wondered if their could be more pygmies there seeing as there are so many in close proximity on the slope. I then spotted a yellow/grey female not far from the other pair. I looked around for a partner and found a pinkish male only a few centimetres from her.

We headed along the NW-SE Wall and up and over, then across the reef to the eastern end of the East-West Wall. The tide had changed and we were swimming into a slight current.

At the large Carijoa covered rock, I took some photographs of the orange red-fingered anglerfish. Malcolm indicated he only had 40 bar left. We headed for the exit. Because the tide was running out, I headed south rather than west into the current with a plan to get out where we got in. I hadn't swum very far when I realised Malcolm was no longer with me. The visibility was only around 3 metres now and I knew I'd have no hope of finding him so I continued south-east along the wall doing my safety stop as I went. I came up at the bay and waded out. I walked along the path and spotted Malcolm on the beach just inside the point. He'd taken the same route as the first dive.