Dive Details

Location

Date

Saturday 9 February 2019

Time

10:28am - 12:02pm

Seas

Some current

Visibility

5 to 10 metres

Duration

93 minutes

Surface interval

Maximum depth

13.7 m

Average depth

10.7 m

Water temperature

16.1°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

Low

5:38am

0.54m

High

11:57am

1.60m

Low

6:23pm

0.44m

Details

For my second dive of the day I chose The Monument. Mainly because I have dived there so infrequently of late but also because there was a do on in the picnic area and I'd be there already. My timing had been good on the previous dive so I'd just be able to get a 90 minute dive in and finish right on high tide and also right at the start of the event.

I got in at the protected area between Sutherland Point and The Steps and waded out. As the tide was quite high and the seas calm it was easy to just float out to the drop off. When I was ready I descended and swam towards the sand line. The visibility was 5 to 10 metres, much the same as the previous dive. The water temperature was the same or perhaps a little cooler at just over 16°C. There was barely any surge and the current wasn't very strong.

I stayed in from the sand line and looked for the small orange Red-Fingered Anglerfish I used to see here. I'm sure I found the right rock but I couldn't find the anglerfish.

I swam over Block Rock and on to Pygmy Hollow. I couldn't see any pygmies in the gap but I did find a reddish male on the back rock. I looked for a female but instead found another male.

I headed past Honey's Rock and on to the Deep Wall. I swam past the area where the Pot-Bellied Seahorses used to be and near the end of the wall I swam up and over. I looked at the rock near the top of the wall for pygmy pipehorses but found none.

I had a look in the sponges on the other side of the valley for seahorses before heading along towards Sutherland Point. I spotted a juvenile Eastern Smooth Boxfish in a gap in the rocks.

I swam over the slope below Seahorse Rock and kept an eye out for "Nia", the brown White's Seahorse. I then swam over Split Rock and on to Sponge Reef. I looked in the hole where the mating Red-Fingered Anglerfish had been a month ago but it was bare. There was no sign of the eggs I'd seen lower down on the rock.

I continued on towards the Valley of the Pygmies. I spotted two Nembrotha purpureolineata nudibranchs. They didn't look like they were close enough together to be mating but as I swam over them I realised they were mating.

I arrived in the Valley of the Pygmies. I looked for the pair on the last rock on the slope from Castle Rock but could not find either of them. I looked on the next rocks and found a male on the second rock from Castle Rock. I then spotted the greyish female on the first rock from Castle Rock.

I headed over to Castle Rock. I spotted the Queen (the pink female, IL20 ) and then the King (the white/red male, IL20) nearby. I then spotted another large white male. Could this be the Prince all grown up? Nearby I found a female, perhaps the Princess. I also spotted two Atagema inecta nudibranchs together on Castle Rock.

I went back down to the slope to look for other pygmies. On the first rock I found the greenish male. I revisited the other two I'd seen previously. I then found the pink female.

I visited Castle Rock again before heading off.

I swam along and up the NW-SE Wall and over the top. I headed to the corner and looked around for anglerfish on the large Carijoa covered rock. I then checked out the shelf where the four pygmy pipehorses had been.

I followed the base of the East-West Wall to the west. I got to the rock where "Naomi", the yellow White's Seahorse, has been. She wasn't in the usual yellow finger sponge. I looked in the other yellow finger sponges on the rock and still couldn't find her. I then checked the sponges on the adjacent rocks and finally found her. She no longer appeared to have anemones growing on her.

I continued along the base of the wall to Mandy's pygmies. They were both still there at the base of the rock. I took some photographs before moving on.

I kept going along the base of the wall as far as the basket star. I then ascended the wall and headed south to the beach. I did my safety stop on the way and kept going south until it was too shallow and I waded out.