Dive at The Monument, Kurnell, NSW on Sunday 21 July 2019

Dive Details

Location

Logged dive number

1711

Date

Sunday 21 July 2019

Time

9:22am - 11:27am

Seas

Slight surge

Visibility

5 to 15 metres

Duration

125 minutes

Surface interval

23:05 (hh:mm)

Maximum depth

13.6 m

Average depth

10.1 m

Water temperature

16.1°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

5:13am

0.47m

High

11:15am

1.34m

Low

4:47pm

0.66m

High

11:08pm

1.64m

Details

Today would be my last dive for a number of weeks due to surgery tomorrow. I was hoping for a good dive.

I decided to dive at The Monument as I had dived at The Steps yesterday. I last dived at The Monument 3 weeks ago so it was time to dive there again.

I walked along the rocks to the protected area between The Steps and The Monument. I waded out and then swam out off the edge of the shelf. I descended and started to swim towards the sand line. I hadn't gone very far when a 2-3m female Grey Nurse Shark with attendant school fish and a remora swam by a couple of metres in front of me. I was mesmerised for a while and then thought to turn my GoPro on and record it. I only managed to get it swimming away.

I continued to the sand line. The visibility was 5 to 10 metres but stretched to 15 metres in parts. There was negligible current and surge. The water temperature was between 16 and 17°C.

I followed the sand line to Block Rock. I looked around Block Rock and the adjacent sponge covered rock for seahorses. I'd seen a male White's Seahorse on the sponge covered rock last time I'd dived here. I couldn't find any.

I followed the reef to Pygmy Hollow. It has been months since I've seen any pygmy pipehorses here but I hoped they may have returned. They hadn't.

I headed along the wall past the area where the Pot-Bellied Seahorses had been last year. I spotted a Weedy Seadragon out on the sand. This may have been one of the juveniles from last year.

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 12.4m.

Near the end of the wall I headed up and over. As I got to the top of the wall I spotted the Grey Nurse Shark from the start of the dive. I recognised her from the remora.

I looked around the rocks near the top of the wall for pygmy pipehorses but found none.

I continued along the reef to Slope Rock and looked on it and surrounding rocks for pygmy pipehorses but I didn't find any.

Last time I'd dived here I'd seen an orange Red-fingered Anglerfish on the large sponge covered rock just before the slope. I was able to spot it on the same rock from 5 metres away.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 10.1m.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 10.2m.

I looked along to slope for White's Seahorse. All I spotted was a small Crested Horn Shark. I noticed a couple of divers between me and Split Rock.

Juvenile Crested Horn Shark, Heterodontus galeatus. 9.9m.

I headed up to Seahorse Rock and looked around on the sand above it. I spotted a large Nembrotha sp. nudibranch feeding on an ascidian.

Nudibranch, Nembrotha sp. 8.4m.

I went back down to the slope and the two divers were still there. When I got to the divers I could see it was Wilson and Kathy. They were photographing a small Nembrotha sp. nudibranch. I told them there was a larger one up by Seahorse Rock and I took them up to show them.

I came back to photograph the small nudibranch and on my way I spotted a large Reaper Cuttlefish. I photographed the small nudibranch before continuing.

Reaper Cuttlefish, Sepia mestus. 10.7m.

Nudibranch, Nembrotha sp. 10.6m.

I looked over Split Rock and spotted a pretty orange scallop with blue eyes. I'd never seen one like this before.

Scallop, (Pectiniidae). 11m.

I continued along the reef. I was hoping to spot some Red-fingered Anglerfish and looked in all the spots I've seen them before, including the hole where I'd spotted the air mating earlier in the year. I found none.

I headed to Valley of the Pygmies. I hadn't found any pygmies here 3 weeks ago but Cody found one in April. I looked all around but did not find any. I did spot a Weedy Seadragon off the Carijoa covered rock.

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 13.1m.

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 13.3m.

I followed the sand line to near the corner. I came across another Weedy Seadragon out on the sand.

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 13.5m.

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 13.4m.

I cut up the wall and headed towards the shelf at the eastern end of the East-West Wall. As I approached the large Carijoa covered rock I spotted another orange Red-fingered Anglerfish.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 9.8m.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 9.5m.

I headed over to the shelf and looked for pygmy pipehorses. I spotted a small golden female. I looked for others but couldn't find any.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.8m.

I followed the base of the East-West Wall to the west. On the way I spotted a Eastern Smooth Boxfish.

Eastern Smooth Boxfish, Anoplocapros inermis. 11m.

I reached the area where "Naomi", the yellow White's Seahorse has been. She wasn't in her usual sponge but I managed to find her in one of the other sponges.

Female White's Seahorse, Hippocampus whitei, ("Naomi"). 11.1m.

Female White's Seahorse, Hippocampus whitei, ("Naomi"). 11.2m.

I continued along the wall to the rock where Mandy's pygmy pipehorses had been. I looked on the rock for pygmy pipehorses but found none.

I ascended the wall and swam along the top of the wall to the gap in the kelp and then headed south towards the beach. I did my safety stop along the way. I spotted a Mourning Cuttlefish on the sand.

Mourning Cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 3m.

I continued until it was too shallow and then waded out in front of the flagpoles.

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D500

Lens

Nikon AF-S Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G ED

Housing

Ikelite 6812.5

Lens port

Ikelite Flat Port 5502.41

Strobe(s)

2 x Ikelite SubStrobe DS161