One marine creature I have always wanted to see is the Leafy Sea Dragon. In December I had a free day while visiting Adelaide so organised a couple of dives with Diving Adelaide to see what this part of Australia was like underwater!
I can say it surpassed all expectations – the first dive of the day was to Bluff Reserve, an easy shore entry at a small beach, with the dive following a sloping rocky wall covered in kelp – a fun thing to see when you are from Queensland! And hidden amongst the kelp were the cleverly disguised leafy sea dragons – they are fascinating to watch, hovering in a relaxed manner in and out of the kelp, a quiet confidence perhaps in their camouflage.
We were lucky enough to see quite a few of these amazing creatures, including a juvenile that was spotted in the seagrass nearby, almost transparent and only a few centimetres long.
The Bluff:
Leafy Sea Dragon:
Video of the masters-of-disguise-in-a-kelp-forest:
Wow, amazing sea-creatures. I’ve seen weedy sea dragons in Sydney, and last night I saw my first ornate ghost pipefish in the Gold Coast seaway, but I’ll have to head to SA to check these guys out. Cheers, Amanda
That’s cool! I haven’t seen either of those before! I was really happy with the diving I did so highly recommend 🙂
Wow.
Thank you!! 🙂
[…] with this set-up which I used for the first time late last year exploring South Australia (see Leafy Sea Dragons and Rapid Bay […]
[…] diving at Bluff Reserve to see the leafy sea dragons, we drove across the Fleurieu Peninsular to our second dive site, Rapid Bay […]