Dive Details

Location

Logged dive number

1765

Date

Saturday 4 April 2020

Time

3:07pm - 4:55pm

Buddy

Cody Sheridan

Seas

Very strong current at times and light surge

Visibility

1 to 10 metres

Duration

108 minutes

Surface interval

Maximum depth

13.8 m

Average depth

10.9 m

Water temperature

16.2°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

High

5:45am

1.68m

Low

12:30pm

0.42m

High

6:39pm

1.39m

Details

The tides were not great today so it would have to be a late dive. We were meant to be meeting at 2pm but Cody was running late (he left his camera at home). The forecast was moderate north easterly swell but there were strong westerly winds forecasted for the afternoon. As I was waiting for Cody I could see the wind picking up over the bay in front of the flagpoles. By the time we were ready, the water surface was very choppy and white with sand kicked up from the bottom.

We waded out at my usual entry point and the surface water was quite dirty. I was confident it would be clear at depth but we agreed before descending that if the visibility as the sand line was poor, we'd head to The Steps instead.

We descended and once we got below the surface layer the visibility improved significantly. By the time we reached the sand line, the visibility was around 10 metres, albeit quite dark, like twilight, due to the little light penetrating the surface layer. It was also very cold at 16°C. I was so glad I was in a drysuit. The current was ridiculously strong and I suspect that was why the visibility was so good: the current was bringing clean water in under the murky surface layer. I also suspect the current was strong to counteract the water being pushed out of the bay by the strong winds. We turned left and headed towards Sutherland Point.

We didn't have to swim at all as we moved along the sand line thanks to the current. I looked on the rocks for pygmies and seahorses but found none. I did find the rock where Mandy pointed out the White's Seahorse last Sunday; the rock with the orange hydroids. Near block rock I spotted a Lance Blenny. They are not particularly uncommon, but this one was in a great spot for being photographed.

We continued to the wall and along to Pygmy Playground. I found the pinkish male and whiteish female pygmies. They weren't easy to photograph due to the strong current. I looked for other pygmies in Pygmy Playground but found none.

We looked out in the kelp for Weedy Seadragons before heading up over the wall and to the slope where the small white female pygmy that John showed me was. I found it straight away this time thanks to the orange sponge behind it. Again the current made photography difficult.

We moved along the reef with the current. It was now very dark and much like a night dive. this made spotting small animals easier and I spotted a female pygmy. I looked for, and found, a whiteish male on the same rock. I pointed them out to Cody.

On the next rock I spotted a small orange Red-fingered Anglerfish. This was probably the one John told me about last Sunday but we couldn't find.

We continued to the rock where I'd seen the purple make pygmy on Wednesday. I couldn't find it yesterday but the pink female had been in the same spot. Today she wasn't there. I looked around a bit more and found her on the previous rock. I looked for the purple male but only found a cryptic female. While Cody was photographing the pink female I went back to the anglerfish to make sure I would remember where I saw it.

I swam up to the crevice with the Upside-down Pipefish but I couldn't see them.

We drifted with the current to the large orange Red-fingered Anglerfish with eggs. The eggs were obvious again.

We headed along the reef to Four Pygmies Rock. I looked for pygmies and anglers on the way but found none. On Four Pygmies Rock I found the male pygmy in his usual spot. The female had moved higher up the rock.

We swam up the reef to the well camouflaged Red-fingered Anglerfish. Its eggs were also obvious. There was a large Reaper Cuttlefish above it.

While Cody was photographing the anglerfish I noticed a small spider crab. I usually only see these on night dives and I wonder if it had come out early because it was so dark.

We headed along to Valley of the Pygmies. While there haven't been many pygmies there for some time, I am ever hopefully of finding some there. Today I was lucky to find two small cryptic females at the bottom of the slope. I took photographs and pointed them out to Cody.

We started along the base of the wall past the three rocks there. I looked for the grey Red-fingered Anglerfish. I had twisted my weight harness when I was putting on and it was now bugging me. I got Cody to hold my camera while I tried to untwist it.

We were swimming along the base of the wall when I spotted two Weedy Seadragons: a female and a male. I took a couple of photographs of the female and then nearly lost my weight pouch. I stopped to fix it and by the time I'd finished I couldn't see the female. I took some photographs of the male.

We continued out to the two large Carijoa rocks on the sand. I looked for the Pot-bellied Seahorse John had pointed out on Sunday. I hadn't seen it on Wednesday so I wasn't surprised to not find it today.

We headed around the corner and up the reef. The visibility dropped significantly the shallower we got. On the top of the reef it was only around 1 or 2 metres. As we swam over some Carijoa I spotted a white male pygmy.

We swam past the large Carijoa covered rock on the corner and along to the shelf. The white male pygmy was in the Carijoa. I took some photographs and then spotted the female. I hadn't seen her since last Sunday.

We made our way along the base of the wall. I paused in the area where the older Pot-bellied Seahorses had been and had a brief look but didn't see any. As we were swimming on to the new seahorses, but before we got there, I spotted "Jose", one of the older seahorses.

In the area of the new seahorses I spotted "Adam" near where I'd seen yesterday. I then found "Sunny" in the sea tulips. "Starlight" was no longer on the kelp. On the rock where "Harry" had been I found both "Harry" and "Starlight" together. That made 5 Pot-bellied Seahorses.

The visibility was only around a metre now and it was getting difficult to navigate. We continued along the based of the wall and every now and then the visibility would extend to 2 metres. I then spotted a yellow female White's Seahorse at the base of the wall.

While we still had a lot of air left, I'd had enough so we ascended the wall. The visibility was now less than a metre so I had to use my compass to head west and then south. As we got farther south the visibility seemed to get even worse and the water was rougher. When we finished our safety stops we surfaced. We were still a long way out and there were quite large waves driven by the wind. We swam on the surface west as we moved closer to sure as it was a little bit calmer the farther west we went. Eventually we made it to the channel and waded through it.