Eastern
Blue Devilfish, Velvetfish, Giant Cuttlefish, Pot-Bellied Seahorses, Port
Jackson sharks, Red Indian Fish, Weedy Sea Dragons, Wobbegong sharks – Sydney certainly
delivers some great marine life... and the Velvetfish was only the second one I had seen. The first in 2014 was also in Sydney at West Side, Bare Island, near to Henry Head where I saw this one.
The year didn’t get off to
the best of starts though. In March Samantha Patterson-Ross of Abyss Scuba
Diving and I shore-dived from Bare Island, diving West Side and Deep Wall. The
underwater visibility was dreadful, near the entrance just one metre. Fortunately
it was a bit better, 5 to 6 metres in April when Mick Todd and I did a couple
of shore dives at Shelly Beach, Manly. Then in May Samantha and I did four
back-to-back boat dives from Abyss’ Seadragon II, two at Whale Watching
Platform, Kurnell National Park where the visibility was 15 to 20 metres and
two at nearby Henry Head off Cape Banks where it was 10 to 15. We were happy
with that! Wrapping up the year, in November I again did four back-to-back boat
dives from Seadragon II, this time with Abyss’ Nisha Kanthan, all at Henry
Head. With the wind picking up as the day wore on, the underwater visibility held
up at a consistent 15 to 18 metres, just dropping from that on our fourth dive