Dive Details

Location

Date

Monday 31 December 2018

Time

11:06am - 12:45pm

Buddy

Rob Fonseca, Rachael Chidgey

Seas

Slight current and surge

Visibility

3 to 10 metres

Duration

99 minutes

Surface interval

Maximum depth

12.4 m

Average depth

10.0 m

Water temperature

15.0°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

High

4:47am

1.48m

Low

10:58am

0.61m

High

4:56pm

1.37m

Low

11:11pm

0.46m

Details

Rachael and Rob joined me for my last dive of the year. As with the last few days it has been very warm in the air and cool in the water. While I would have preferred to have dived The Leap for my last dive of the year, there is no shade there so getting into a drysuit (for the cold water) is really uncomfortable. There's some nice shade at The Monument.

We timed our arrival so we'd be getting in right on low tide. Earlier would have been better from the heat but not from a tide perspective. Later would have been hotter.

We got in at the protected area between Sutherland Point and The Steps. Because the tide was so low we had to wade all the way out to the drop off. At places it was less than knee deep. Once we were ready at the drop off, we descended and headed towards the sand line. Visibility in the surface layer was pretty ordinary but it improved as we got deeper. It was probably 5 metres as I was looking for the small orange red-fingered anglerfish. The water temperature was between 15 and 16°C. There was a slight surge.

I overshot the small orange anglerfish and had to swim back to find it. I took some photographs and pointed it out to Rachael and Rob.

I swam on ahead to Pygmy Hollow. I found a male pygmy on the adjacent rock and by the time I'd taken some photographs of it Rachael and Rob had caught up. I pointed it out to them while I looked for others. I found the male in the gap between the rocks near the white honeycomb sponge and a pinkish female. I pointed them out to the others before we moved on.

I looked on the rocks around Honey's rock for the orange anglerfish but couldn't see it. We swam along the Deep Wall and I spotted the dwarf lionfish in the orange finger sponge. I looked for the pot-bellied seahorses as we went past their location but I'm now convinced they are all gone.

We kept along the Deep Wall until after it ended and swam on to Carijoa Rock. I spotted a Nembrotha purpureolineata along the way.

We swam up the reef a bit and over the slope below Seahorse Rock. I looked for "Nia", the brown White's seahorse, but could not see her.

We continued past Split Rock and along the reef to the hole which used to have a grey red-fingered anglerfish but now has a well camouflaged orange one. I pointed it out to the others.

We swam down to the Valley of the Pygmies. I found the male on the first rock and took some photographs. I then went to the Carijoa and sponge covered rock to find the 4 pygmy pipehorses there. I found the pink female and her white and red male. I then found the other pair: the dark red male and light brown female. I pointed them out to the others and went back to the slope to look for more pygmies.

The reliable male was not in his usual spot. He hadn't been there yesterday. I found the greenish male that I saw for the first time in a while yesterday. I found the small cryptic female on the same rock. I found the cryptic female partner of the male on the first rock. I found the pink female who I think is the partner of the reliable male. I found a male who I think may be the reliable male. I found a small pink female which may be one of the juveniles I've seen before. Rob and Rachael indicated they were leaving so I wished them both a Happy New Year and went back to photographing pygmies.

Just like yesterday, I'd spent too much time in the Valley of the Pygmies and had barely left enough air to follow the East-West Wall. I was slightly better than yesterday so I made a move. I swam along and over the NW-SE wall to the corner and start of the East-West Wall. I had a quick look for the small orange red-fingered anglerfish but couldn't see it.

I swam quite quickly along the base of the wall to the rock where I first saw "Naomi", the yellow White's seahorse, all those months ago. She was in the same sponge where I'd first seen her. She also has an anemone on her head which I noticed in the photographs I'd taken of her yesterday. I specifically took photographs of the anemone today.

I continued along the base of the wall to the isolated rocks with Mandy's pygmies. I found the pinkish female first and then the golden male. They were both low down on the rock near the sand.

I ascended the wall and swam west for a short time until I found the break in the kelp and then headed south, doing my safety stop as I swam. I continued south until it was too shallow and then waded out in front of the flagpoles.