Original: Tuesday 1 September 2026 Update: Thursday 10 September 2026
I saw 13 different seadragons on my 10 dives in August. I had 55 encounters in all with an average of over 5 encounters per dive.
August was a much better month for diving even though I was back at work. Conditions were fair to good for the whole month and there were only a few days I didn't dive because I was either unwell (still recovering from what I had last month) or the conditions weren't good.
I saw 11 of the 13 seadragons I had seen in July, plus two new seadragons, "Virginia", on 23 August, and "Delores", who I saw at the end of the month. I did one dive where I headed to The Monument and back and got to see "Ricardo". I did two dives from The Leap and saw "Denis" on one but not the female, "Veronica", on either dive.
I did not see "Veronica" or "Hilary" during August. I was surprised not to see "Veronica" on either of the dives I did from The Leap. I had seen her on previous dives and it is possible that I swam past her. I nearly missed "Denis" on one of my Leap dives but fortunately my buddy saw him and called me back. It is possible I did the same with "Veronica". Edit: I saw "Veronica" on 2 September so she is still around.
The last time I saw "Hilary" they were above Big Rock which is some way from the previous sightings in Seadragon Alley. It is possible they are moving around a bit and I keep missing them.
Time will if either of these individuals show up again. Edit: Only "Hilary" is still missing so far.
On 23 August I came on 2 female seadragons just after seeing "Randy" in his usual location. One of the females was "Robin" and I thought the other was "Douglas". "Douglas" is not easy to identify underwater as she has no obvious distinguishing features (other than a unique dot pattern on her snout). I usually eliminate all the other females leaving only "Douglas". I was somewhat distracted after seeing her (see below) that I didn't confirm who it was and it was only after submitting the photos to SeadragonSearch that I was told it was not "Douglas" and was in fact a new seadragon who I named "Virginia".
On my very last dive for the month I spotted a new individual, "Delores". She wasn't far from the entry/exit at The Steps. I didn't make the same mistake with "Delores" and assume she was "Douglas" but only because I had seen "Douglas" a minute before.
Both "Virginia" and "Deloris" are fully grown and I have no idea where they have been all this time. It is also going to be difficult distinguishing "Virginia" and "Delores" from "Douglas" underwater but it is a burden I'm happy to shoulder.
I saw "Ricardo" on 12 August for the first time in nearly a month. He had a fairly new brood. He spends most of his time at The Monument and there aren't any females living their permanently. I have seen "Eleanor" and "Greg" (who is a female) at The Monument at times (and both were there on 12 August) so either of them may have given him the eggs.
I had trouble finding "Charlie" for the first half of August but managed to find him again on 15 August. He had moved from the location I'd been seeing him in July and I suspect he may have been harassed by divers as that seems to be the main reason males with broods move. He still had the brood I had seen him with in July.
"Randy" had his brood up until 12 August although it was nearly done. I didn't see him on my dive on 15 August but when I saw him on 19 August, all his eggs were gone.
On 23 August I found Randy in his usual location sans eggs. I then spotted two females, of which one was "Robin". "Robin" then made a beeline to "Randy" and they started courting. This is only the second time I have seen a pair preparing for egg transfer. I took a couple of photographs and then hung back to video. I didn't know how long it would last and I only had around 10 minutes of air left.
I watched for a while but realised it wasn't going to happen while I was there so I left. "Randy" had a brood next time I saw him.
Neither "Hervé" nor "Denis" had broods when I saw them during the month which is quite surprising as it is well into the brooding season. There are at least 3 females near "Hervé" and "Denis" hangs out with "Veronica".
I hope that the seas stay calm in September and I get to see all of the seadragons again.
Please leave Feedback if you have any comments or questions about this blog entry.