I’m revisiting this protected location where I had previously noted a mated pair of Leafy Seadragons (Phycodurus eques) and to my surprise I found a new young adult while the original pair were nowhere to be seen.

Although the water was quite clear with 8-12m visibility there was a roaring current with all sorts of things in the water drifting past. Capturing this image required me to wait for the debris to be reasonably clear but because of the very strong current this leafy was happy to stay down low in its den rather that drift up and away, a behavior I would normally have expected.

I am quite excited to have identified a new leafy dragon here after around 2 months of revisiting the same location.

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 693, The Dragon’s Den’, 1/60s f/22 ISO800 15mm