South Australia: Edithburg's Leafy Sea Dragons

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donsilcock

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Location
Australia
I managed to get a few days diving in and around Edithburg in South Australia late last year and after a day of looking finally found a pair of what have to be Australia's most exquisite underwater creatures – the very special and quite unique Leafy Sea Dragon (Glauerts Seadragon).

Edithburg is on the south-east tip of South Australia's Yorke Peninsular and is one of the best places to see and photograph "Leafy's" as just off from the town's main jetty and in less than 10m of water is an area of thick sea grass which provides the perfect habitat.

The sea grass allows the Leafy's to blend in almost completely, plus a rich source of the small crustaceans that, together with plankton, forms their main food source.

Only found only in the waters of Southern Australia and the south-west of Western Australia, Leafy Sea Dragons are very territorial, although they will move away from their habitat for up to several hundred metres from its habitat, they use their very strong sense of direction to return.

The underwater conditions were not too good at the time because of recent storms, which meant the visibility was not the best, but it was a great encounter when we found a male and female pair, with the male carrying a large number of eggs.

You can see the Leafy Sea Dragon image gallery from the trip on this LINK and I will be adding some detailed location pages on the Edithburg area soon as I get chance…

Don

SA_10_Dec_D03_032_crop_900.jpg
 
Don,

LSD sightings are more common at the following nearby jetties than at Edithburgh - Wool Bay and Klien's Point. I would not agree that the LSD is one of 'Australia's most exquisite underwater creatures...' Compared to some fish, LSDs are relatively common.
 
Gorgeous photo! My husband would die, I think, for an opportunity to see and photograph those amazing animals.
 
Don,

LSD sightings are more common at the following nearby jetties than at Edithburgh - Wool Bay and Klien's Point. I would not agree that the LSD is one of 'Australia's most exquisite underwater creatures...' Compared to some fish, LSDs are relatively common.

Hi, we tried Wool bay but had no luck at all... did not try Klien's Point after finding the ones at Edithburg.

I guess it's all relative, but for me the Leafy's are superb creatures and from what I hear much less common than they used to be - but I only get to dive South Australia about once a year for a few days, so not exactly an expert opinion....

Don
 
Whilst they may be common in SA, people I've met on dive travels overseas, can't wait to get to Australia just to see them! And common or not, they are still exquisite!! Thanks Don, a gorgeous shot.
 
Lovely shot... Definitely on my bucket list!
 
Wonderful!

Im planning on diving in the area this July! Actually I wonder what conditions I should expect?

I know the water will be FREEZING (compared to what Im used to...), but on top of that, every time I have seen videos of Leafies, there has been a lot of surge.
 
The water temperatures can be as low as 9 degrees C (particularly if there has been a number of still days, i.e. no wind) with the average being around 13 to 14 degrees C.

Surge will depend on where the wind is blowing from. According to the (Australian) Bureau of Meteorology during July, the wind mainly blows from the N and the NE in the morning while in the afternoon, the wind blows from the sector from the SW to the N (I got this info from the following link - Wind roses for selected locations in Australia). The wind directions suggests sites west of Adelaide such as Wool Bay, Edithburgh and Klein's Point are the places to dive. Also, Victor Harbor (south of Adelaide) may be OK (but really cold!!!).
 
Donsilcock,

Hi, I am in Adelaide. If you are a regular visitor to Adelaide, Not sure who you are diving with if anyone maybe George D.? anyway, I will try and track you down via your other websites and if you want, I can get you out to some nice sites subject to our weather. You don't have a storage location in Adelaide do you? h'mm recollect a Don who was looking to sell of some suits a few years ago that visits Adelaide reguarly.

I have posted some youtube videos of some of SA's fine dive sites - Ozdiverdown in You Tube.

Link

ozdiverdown - YouTube

Anyway, happy to try and get you out on my boat if you like.

Regards,

Savy.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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