This morning, Janet, Julian and myself swam in a westerly direction towards
Steyne Beach, at Manly.  (Shelly Beach has the distinction of being one of
the very few beaches on the eastern seaboard of Australia to face west!).
Over the past few weeks the water temperature has been over 23 deg. C.  I've
been alternating between a semi-dry and a lycra suit, (which has usually
been adequate for a single dive.)  Today, because it was our intention to
take our time and look for macro 'thingies', I wore a 1 mm.  (I'd forgotten
about the possibility of the cold current that seems to sweep into Sydney
for a few weeks around this time of the year!).  The temperature quickly
dropped to 18 deg. C. and there was a distinctive 'oily haze' where the warm
and cold waters mingled together.  (Not so much a thermocline as a solid
wall of cold water!) :-0

Because it was our intention to look for the smaller life that generally
goes un-noticed, I took along a magnifying glass.  Julian discovered two
pipe fish among the seagrass beds.  Camouflaged in the same colour as the
sea grass, not only were they difficult to see but both of them seemed
intent on disguising themselves as pieces of grass.  The first immediately
wrapped its tail around a loose piece of grass and angled its body so that
it lay along the blade making it difficult to distinguish between the
creature and the drifting plant.  The second, wrapped its tail around a
growing plant and pointed upwards, "I'm just a piece of seagrass.  Now
bugger off!"  :-)

Dozens of rays lay dotted over the sand while, among the rocks, various
schools of fish were searching out breakfast.  A number of Neon Damsels
playing around a flat rock, alarmed by our presence, scooted into a hollow
scooped beneath the rock.  It looked like an octopus lair.  Perhaps it was.
The Damsels never re-emerged!

Hidden in the branches of a large sponge were several minute creatures that,
through the magnifying glass, turned out to be brightly patterned (red and
white) shrimps of a type that I haven't seen before.  Hanging beneath a
ledge on a nearby rock, Julian and Janet also discovered a small (3 cms)
fish shaped like a goby with a bright red body and a jet black head.  A
curious grouper - about a metre in length - put its head between theirs to
see what it was they were looking at!  :-)

It was an enjoyable 74-minutes - but I still couldn't wait to warm up under
a cold shower! :-)

Strike