Dive at The Steps, Kurnell, NSW on Thursday 26 December 2019

Dive Details

Location

Logged dive number

1736

Date

Thursday 26 December 2019

Time

8:19am - 10:16am

Buddy

Mike Scotland

Seas

Strong current at times and moderate surge

Visibility

5 to 15 metres

Duration

117 minutes

Surface interval

3 days 21:57 (days hh:mm)

Maximum depth

14.8 m

Average depth

11.6 m

Water temperature

16.8°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

Low

2:34am

0.45m

High

9:11am

1.87m

Low

3:53pm

0.28m

High

9:46pm

1.33m

Details

Mike joined me again today for another dive at The Steps. I had a 15L tank again to give me more time to look for ogranisms. High tide was just after 9am so we'd get 40-50 minutes before the tide turns.

We jumped in at The Steps and swam out on the surface. We descened to the kelp. The visibility looked pretty good and must have been at least 10 metres. The water temperature was only 17°. I was so glad I was still in my drysuit.

I looked around the rocks at the entrance for the orange Red-fingered Anglerfish that I saw 11 days ago but could not see it.

We headed along the sand line to the rock where the Pot-bellied Seahorses had been this time last year. The orange Red-fingered Anglerfish that John and Leah pointed out to me 19 days ago was still there.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 11.9m.

We continued along the sand line to Pipefishes Hole. There were no pipefishes visible in the hole. There were two seahorses around the kelp near the hole. There was a smaller one and there was "Teardrop", the male. He no longer had eggs. (He'd still had eggs 4 days ago.) He also had an Eastern Cleaner Clingfish on his side.

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 13.1m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, ("Teardrop"). 12.8m.

Bare tail of a male Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, ("Teardrop"). 12.8m.

Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, ("Teardrop"). 13.1m.

Eastern Cleaner Clingfish, Cochleoceps orientalis, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 13.2m.

We swam up to Di's Rock and then along the top of the reef to the grey Red-fingered Anglerfish with eggs. I still couldn't see the eggs. As I swam off from the grey anglerfish I spotted a Weedy Seadragon.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 11.7m.

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 11.1m.

I continued on ahead to the rock with the large green sponge to look for the pygmy pipehorses there. I found the female (IL2019122202) first and then the male (IL2019122201). When Mike swam up I pointed them out.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019122202). 11.6m.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019122201). 11.4m.

I headed over to the seahorses. Both the males, "David" and "George" were hiding low down in the sea tulips and white honeycomb sponge. "Skye" was on the sand to the south-east of the rock.

Male Pot-bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("David"). 12.3m.

Male Pot-bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("George"). 12.3m.

Female Pot-Bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Skye"). 12.3m.

Male Pot-bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("George"). 12.2m.

I looked on the next rock for pygmy pipehorses and found a female (IL2019122205). This is the same one I found on Sunday. I kept looking and found a male (IL2019122601). I pointed them out to Mike.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019122205). 11.8m.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019122601). 11.8m.

I continued on towards the basket star. I looked on the rock for the orange Red-fingered Anglerfish I'd spotted last Sunday but initially couldn't find it. I eventually found it on the shoreward end of the rock. I waited for Mike and pointed it out to him.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 11.6m.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 11.5m.

I looked for the black Painted Anglerfish on the rock it has been on but I could not find it. I instead went to Cody's greenish male pygmy and the pink female. While I was photographing them, Mike spotted the black Painted Anglerfish and pointed it out to me. I also spotted a sea star nearby.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019121703). 12.5m.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019121702). 12.5m.

Sea star, Uniophora granifera. 11.8m.

I headed to the basket star and then down to Diversity Rock. Mike and I then headed along the reef towards Big Rock. We stopped at the pair of pink pygmy pipehorses. The male (IL2019100601) was on the side as usual and the female (IL2019100503) on top.

Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 12.5m.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019100601). 13.7m.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019100503). 13.6m.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019100503). 13.5m.

I headed down to the Doughboy Scallop. It had moved from behind the green sponge.

Doughboy Scallop, Mimachlamys asperrima. 14.3m.

I swam over to Long Rock. I spotted two two male (IL2019112401, IL2019121501) pygmy pipehorses and a female (IL2019121502).

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019112401). 14m.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019121502). 14.5m.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019121501). 14.3m.

Mike was up near High Pygmy Rock so I joined him there where he pointed out a pair of mating Nembrotha purpureolineata nudibranchs. Mike left me here and I continued the dive on my own.

Nudibranch, Nembrotha purpureolineata. 12.4m.

I stayed high on the reef on my way back. I spotted a juvenile Comb Wrasse but little else before I got back to the basket star.

Comb Wrasse, Coris picta. 13m.

Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 12.2m.

Daniela was videoing the black Painted Angelerfish when I got there and it had tumbled down the rock. I pointed out the pair of pygmy pipehorses there when Ves swam up. I asked them if they'd seen the orange anglerfish and they had. I took some more photographs of the anglerfish and pygmies before continuing.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019121702). 12.6m.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019121703). 12.4m.

Painted Anglerfish, Antennarius pictus. 12.3m.

I stopped at the orange anglerfish before heading back to the seahorses. "David" and "George" were still low down but "Skye" had moved onto the rock. I looked for the pygmy pipehorses on the nearby rock but couldn't find them.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 11.5m.

Female Pot-Bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Skye"). 12.1m.

Male Pot-bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("George"). 12.5m.

Male Pot-bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("David"). 12.2m.

I took some more photographs of the pygmy pipehorses on the rock with the large green sponge.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019122202). 11.5m.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2019122201). 11.4m.

I swam back via the grey Red-fingered Anglerfish and then continued along the reef to the orange anglerfish on the rock where the seahorses had been.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 11.7m.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 11.9m.

I headed to the rocks in front of the entry/exit. I had a much better search and found the orange Red-fingered Anglerfish there.

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus. 10.6m.

I ascended to Split Rock and did my safety stop and then swam underwater to the exit.

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