Dive Details

Location

Date

Saturday 29 December 2018

Time

1:01pm - 2:39pm

Seas

Some current and surge

Visibility

5 to 15 metres

Duration

97 minutes

Surface interval

 01:04 (hh:mm)

Maximum depth

14.7 m

Average depth

11.5 m

Water temperature

15.1°C
                                       

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

High

2:45am

1.40m

Low

8:31am

0.58m

High

2:44pm

1.59m

Low

9:25pm

0.38m

Details

I hadn't planned on doing a second dive. I completed my 200th dive for the year yesterday and I already dived this weekend so I didn't need any extra dives however the conditions were so good and I wanted to find "Petra" who I couldn't find on the first dive.

It was still quite calm so I jumped in at The Steps and put my fins on in the water. I swam out on the surface and descended. I swam over the kelp to the sand line. The visibility was still at least 10 metres and closer to 15. The water temperature was around 15°C. There was only gentle surge. I headed along the sand line towards Big Rock into a gentle current.

I stopped at the little orange red-fingered anglerfish which was in its usual spot near the first group of seahorses. Other than changing its orientation, it doesn't seem to move much.

I swam up to "Jodi", the orange pot-bellied seahorse, who was in the same sea tulip from the previous dive. I looked around the main rock and surrounding rocks for other seahorses, particularly "Stephen" but I could not see any.

I continued along the sand line. I looked in the pipefishes hole but could not see any of the pipefishes. I swam straight to the other seahorses. I spotted "David" in the sponge I'd seen him in on the earlier dive. I looked on the surrounding rocks but I could not see "Petra". Then I spotted her on the sand. She had her tail on a sponge on the sand and was lying on the sand herself. Relieved that I had found her I moved on.

I dropped down to the large yellow red-fingered anglerfish. It was in its usual spot on the rock near Little Big Rock.

I swam along the sand line to Diversity Rock. I found the male weedy seadragon with eggs in the kelp just above Diversity Rock. His eggs are nearly done.

I headed up past the basket star and New Basket Star Rock to the rock where the grey red-fingered anglerfish has been. It was still where it was on the first dive and yesterday.

I sort of headed in a straight line to Big Rock. I was looking for pygmy pipehorses along the way. I spotted and umbrella snail on one of the rocks.

I looked at the base of the rock below Hand Rock. I found the juvenile pygmy pipehorse (IL2018122402). I then found the female (IL2018102701 ) and eventually the male (IL2018111001). They had barely moved from the previous dive. I then looked on Hand Rock for the juvenile I wasn't able to find on the first dive. I found it (IL2018122401) almost immediately.