MORE TO COME

Bare Island is the most amazing dive location. There are at least 10 different dives that can be done with only small sections being repeated (on the way to or from the main aim of the dive). The marine life is astounding considering how we have treated Botany Bay since Lieutenant James Cook, RN, first entered the Bay in April 1770 and his compatriot, Captain Arthur Phillip, RN, bought the First Fleet into the same Bay in 1788.

Bare Island has some many different types of marine life that help make it so special. One of these are common or weedy sea dragons. Back in 1988 when I started diving Bare Island, sea dragons were only ever seen on the eastern or left side of the island. They were never in really large numbers and it was not till 1992 that I started to see more than one on a dive. We never saw them on the western or right side or the Deep Wall.

In 1996 we started seeing them on the western or right side. The numbers also increased on the left side, I saw 12 on a dive there on 17 January 2001. From about this time it was not uncommon to see half a dozen on a dive to the Deep Wall or the Isolated Reefs. I saw 10 on 12 December 2004 and 20 August 2006. On 20 March 2008I saw 12 on the Deep Wall.

From mid-2012 numbers dropped dramatically and by the next year we were seeing none. This corresponded with dredging to expand Port Botany. It is obvious that sea dragons (or their food source) do not like silt, as it was very silty from then on for a number of years. I saw only a total of 9 sea dragons at Bare Island from 2012 to 2023, despite many hundreds of dives there.

In October 2023 I saw a juvenile sea dragon near Sea Tulip Rocks on the right side of the island. This was the first one I had seen since 2016. It is not a spot where we had previously seen them. This sea dragon has moved between here and down deeper towards the Cave since then. As of 12 December 2023, it is still near Sea Tulip Rocks. One other sea dragon has been seen during this time.

A link toRight Side of Bare Island.

The following are some photographs of sea dragons, all taken at Bare Island.

This was the first sea dragon I had seen for seven years - seen 12 October 2023	Here is the same sea dragon, seen on 12 December 2023 Seen in same general location as before

For more information about the dives, go to the Bare Island Dives index.