Saturday 1 August 2026
I only managed 7 dives in July but saw all 13 of the remaining seadragons that I had seen in June.
I was hoping for a great month of diving in July as I had the whole month off from work and I could dive whenever I wanted. It was not to be. There were many days when diving was not possible and even when it was possible to dive, conditions were not that good. When the visibility is poor and/or there is surge, seadragons can be more difficult to spot. To make matters worse I was sick for the last two weeks. I only did 7 dives for the whole month compared to 12 in June when I was working.
Despite so few dives in the month, I did see all 13 seadragons that I had seen in June, less "Chester" who had not been well. I did one dive at The Leap where I was able to see the two new seadragons from last month, "Veronica" and "Denis". I also headed to The Monument and back on one dive and got to see "Ricardo". I saw the new subadult, "Hilary", above Big Rock on one dive but I was not able to find them again. I had hoped to dive The Leap a second time in the hope of finding them but was sick.
As expected, "Chester" was not seen at at all in July and I suspect he's dead. He did not look at all well during June.
No new seadragons were seen during July.
I managed to find "Charlie" on my dive on 14 July and he had a brood. This was fortunate as males tend to roam less when they have a brood and so I was able to easily find him on later dives. I had suspected "Charlie" was male and this confirmed it.
None of the other males, "Hervé", "Ricardo", or "Denis", had broods when I saw them during the month but I expect them to have broods next time I see them.
I hope that the seas will settle in August, I get some more dives in, and get to see all of the seadragons again.
Please leave Feedback if you have any comments or questions about this blog entry.