Dive at The Steps, Kurnell, NSW on Friday 15 June 2018

Dive Details

Location

Date

Friday 15 June 2018

Time

8:18am - 10:01am

Details

Today's dive was to show Greg Hill some of the cool things he was missing at Kurnell. Conditions were near perfect with very little swell and a nice Sunny day.

We got in at The Steps and swam out on the surface and when we were both ready we descended. We swam to the sand line. The visibility was around 10 metres and there was almost no swell. The water temperature was around 18°C. We turned right and headed towards Big Rock.

I checked out rocks as we swam, hoping to find the yellow red-fingered anglerfish (or any other anglerfishes). We got to the rock where I found the pair of pygmy pipehorses yesterday - the ones I dedicated to Noel Conlon. I was only able to find the male who was pretty much where he'd been yesterday. I showed him to Greg.

We swam towards Di's rock and the grey red-fingered anglerfish was in its usual spot just before Di's Rock. I pointed it out to Greg and took some photographs.

We continued on to the next rock and I pointed out Roney's tiny juvenile orange painted anglerfish.

As we headed to Little Big Rock I looked for anglerfishes but found none. Behind Little Big Rock I found the golden male pygmy pipehorse in his usual spot. I wonder if there may be a female around. Just nearby there was a large Nembrotha purpureolineata nudibranch in algae.

We continued on towards Big Rock. About half way to Diversity Rock I found another N. purpureolineata nudibranch. Just before Diversity Rock I found my tiny juvenile orange painted anglerfish.

We stayed up from the sand line and swam past the basket star and on to Sponge Hollow. I looked for Roney's red male pygmy pipehorse but it seems to be gone for good. I spotted a small dwarf lionfish in a sponge in Sponge Hollow.

We swam on to the one-eyed seahorse. She had moved from yesterday. We swam on a little farther towards Big Rock before turning around.

We headed past the basket star and my tiny painted anglerfish to Little Big Rock. We bumped into Roney here. Greg was done with the dive and let me know he was heading to the exit. I stayed with Roney for a bit and pointed out the golden male pygmy pipehorse.

I was heading towards Di's Rock when I spotted a large zebra lionfish in a sponge and pointed it out to Roney but he'd already seen it and was on his way to the exit, too.

I visited Roney's tiny anglerfish and the grey red-fingered anglerfish before swimming on to the pygmy pipehorses in another attempt to find the female. I couldn't find her.

I swam around for a while looking for the yellow red-fingered anglerfish but when I couldn't find it I headed for the boulders.

I ascended to 5 metres and started my safety stop while swimming to Split Rock. On the way I spotted a juvenile wedge-tailed triggerfish and stopped to take some photographs. It kept hiding in a crevice and then the hulas would hassle it. It would come out periodically and I was able to take photographs before it hid again and the hulas hassled it.

I swam on to Split Rock and then on to the exit where I got out.

Buddy

Greg Hill

Seas

Calm

Visibility

10 metres

Duration

102 minutes

Maximum depth

15.0 m

Average depth

11.2 m

Water temperature

18.0°C

Dive Profile from Garmin Descent Mk1

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

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

Low

3:25am

0.22m

High

9:26am

1.50m

Low

3:05pm

0.44m

High

9:36pm

2.09m

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

2 x Ikelite SubStrobe DS161

Photographs

Depth information, where present, indicates the depth of the camera when the photograph was taken and can be used to approximate the depth of the subject.