Dive Details

Location

Logged dive number

1801

Date

Sunday 5 July 2020

Time

7:44am - 9:47am

Buddy

Cody Sheridan, Natalia Gale, Greg Ryan

Seas

Moderate current and slight surge

Visibility

3 to 8 metres

Duration

123 minutes

Surface interval

Maximum depth

13.8 m

Average depth

10.8 m

Water temperature

12.8°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

2:30am

0.32m

High

8:24am

1.39m

Low

1:54pm

0.53m

High

8:32pm

1.98m

Details

Cody, Natalia and Greg joined me for today's dive at The Monument. High tide was at around 8:30am so we'd get in in front of the flagpoles and drift out with the outgoing tide. The hope was we'd get in at least 30 minutes before high tide and have some slack time with no current at all.

We geared up and walked down to the channel in front of the flagpoles. It was very cold (probably around 11°C in the air) and I was looking forward to getting into the water because it would probably be warmer. We waded out through the channel and the surface water didn't seem to be any warmer that then air. We donned our fins and surface swam out towards the wall. I could see that Natalia was not happy with the surface swimming so we descended early to around 3 metres and then swam underwater to the wall. We headed NNW over the sand until we reached the wall and then turned east to swim along the base of the wall. The visibility was between 3 and 5 metres but I was blown away by the water temperature which was around 13°C. It was 17°C for my dive yesterday. The other thing that was weird was there was current even though we were over 30 minutes before high tide. It appears the tide had changed early and the cold water from the bay was heading out.

We drifted along the base of the wall. We didn't have to swim much at all as the current, while gentle, was enough to carry us. Most of the rocks, and the sponges on them, were covered in snot algae. It was very thick in parts. I looked for the orange Painted Anglerfish that Natalia found last Saturday but it was so difficult with all the snot algae. I actually found it difficult to recognise the terrain and ended up swimming past the area where the seahorses were by quite a long way. It was only when I reached the area where the seahorses had been at the end of last year that I realised my mistake. I had also gotten ahead of the others.

I turned and headed west. I came on the other three who had found a White's Seahorse. I passed them and headed back to the Pot-bellied Seahorses. On the way I spotted a large Eastern Frogfish out on the sand. It is not often I see these out during the day.

Eastern Frogfish, Batrachomoeus dubius. 10.7m.

I got the the area with the Pot-bellied Seahorses and it was covered in snot algae. I initially couldn't find any of the seahorses. I removed some snot algae from the large cluster of sea tulips and found "Harry". I then spotted "Starlight" on the shelf below the sea tulips. I finally spotted "Sunny" on the single sea tulip on the lower rock. I looked around for "Tim" but could not find him. The water temperature was around 14°C here.

Male Pot-bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Harry"). 10.2m.

Male Pot-bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Sunny"). 10.6m.

Female Pot-Bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Starlight"). 10.1m.

I drifted east again. The others had moved on and I was not able to find the White's Seahorse they were looking at. I continued to the sea tulips where "Jose" normally hangs out. He wasn't there last week but he was there today. It had warmed up to around 15°C here.

Male Pot-bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, ("Jose"). 10.6m.

I followed the base of the wall and caught up with the others. I headed to the shelf on the end of the wall. There was a boat anchor (still attached to a boat on the surface) next to the rock just before the shelf. This really should be a no anchor zone but I guess that won't even get considered until a diver gets killed by an anchor.

The Carijoa colony on the shelf was completely covered in snot algae. I removed as much as I could and spotted the white female pygmy pipehorse in the colony. I took some photographs and then looked for the cryptic male. I had to remove more snot algae to find him. It was difficult to get decent shots of him because of the snot algae. I pointed the pygmy pipehorses out to Cody and Natalia and drifted off.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.8m.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.7m.

We drifted over the corner of the reef down to the two large Carijoa covered rocks on the sand. I looked for pygmy pipehorses and nudibranchs and spotted a Phyllodesmium poindimiei nudibranch in the Carijoa. I had to clean away the snot algae to get some photographs. I pointed the nudibranch out to Natalia as I know she likes them.

Nudibranch, Phyllodesmium poindimiei. 12.7m.

I drifted along the base of the NW-SE wall to the three isolated rocks. I spotted an Eastern Smooth Boxfish and a pair of Mourning Cuttlefish. It looked like the female was getting ready to lay eggs.

Eastern Smooth Boxfish, Anoplocapros inermis. 13.8m.

Mourning Cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 13m.

Mourning Cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 13.1m.

I had gotten ahead of the others even though I was drifting and not swimming. I slowed down to let them catch up and Cody was the first to catch up. I looked in the Valley of the Pygmies for pygmy pipehorses but found none.

I drifted slowly along the base of the reef. I kept one eye on the sand hoping for Weedy Seadragons while also looking for the well camouflaged Red-fingered Anglerfish I'd spotted last Saturday. I couldn't find it. I also had my eyes peeled for other Red-fingered Anglerfish and also Painted Anglerfish.

I approached Four Pygmies Rock and looked on the nearby rock for the small red male pygmy pipehorse I'd spotted last Saturday. It was still there. I took some photographs and pointed it out to Cody and Natalia.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 12m.

I looked of Four Pygmies Rock for "Maureen", the White's Seahorse but could not spot her. I looked on the nearby rocks for the small grey Red-fingered Anglerfish but could not see it.

I drifted along the reef towards Bob's Rock. "Bob" was not on the western side of the rock but Mandy had told us before the dive that "Bob" had been on the top of the rock and so I found it. I took some photographs and pointed it out to Cody. I was going to point it out to Natalia and Greg but they were deep in conversation. I figured Cody could show her and I would look for Mandy's black Painted Anglerfish. I found it on the side of the rock at the base of a chimney sponge. I took some photographs and pointed it out to Cody. Greg swam up and indicated he and Natalia were getting out. The temperature was below 14°C again and I suspected Natalia was getting cold despite being in a drysuit.

Painted Anglerfish, Antennarius pictus, ("Bob"). 11.5m.

Painted Anglerfish, Antennarius pictus. 12.1m.

Cody and I continued along the reef. We looked for pygmy pipehorses and the large orange Red-fingered Anglerfish but found neither. I swam down to Carijoa Rock to look for weedies but found none.

We were looking at the rocks at the top of the deep wall when Cody spotted a Weedy Seadragon. After taking photographs of the weedy, I looked for the small grey Red-fingered Anglerfish but could not find it.

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 10.9m.

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. 10.9m.

We dropped down the wall and headed to Pygmy Playground. I spotted the cryptic male pygmy on one of the first rocks but was not able to find the female. I looked on the area in front of the shelf for the tiny orange Painted Anglerfish that Natalia had spotted last Saturday but could not find it. John said they'd seen it on Wednesday but not yesterday.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 12.3m.

I looked on the side of the rock on the sand line for the whiteish male pygmy that has been there for a few months but couldn't see it. I looked on the side of the higher rock for Mandy's lilac male pygmy and found him. There was a lot of snot algae there. I also spotted his partner. I looked on the top of the rock for the rainbow male pygmy and found him in his usual spot. I also managed to find the female at the eastern end of the rock.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 11.4m.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 11.7m.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 11.1m.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 10.9m.

We swam along the based of the wall and onto the reef that leads to The Steps. I looked for small Painted Anglerfish on the flat rocks. I also looked on the rock where Natalia pointed out the sea spider last Saturday hoping it would still be around. It wasn't.

Cody pointed out one of the red male Pygmy Pipehorses on the rock on the sand. I found the other red male and the female.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 12.1m.

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 12m.

Female Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 12.5m.

We drifted along the sand line closely inspecting the rocks for anglerfishes and pygmies. We got to the area where I'd spotted a male Pot-bellied Seahorse a few weeks ago and then looked for an orange Painted Anglerfish John had told us about. We couldn't find it.

We then headed for the shore and did our safety stop just before the exit point. We surfaced and walked out on the shelf.

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