One month ago I realised one of my absolute critter dreams. I got to see Leafy Seadragons (Phycodurus eques) in the wild! We had to travel to southern West Australia to find them. An area which is absolutely stunning and worth checking out, even if it didn’t have dragons. Since it was so much fun, I decided to share some of the highlights of the trip with you. Get ready for lots of pictures and start checking your calendar when you can go dragon hunting yourself!
Dragon hunting in Bremer Bay and Cape Le Grand (Western Australia)
We started in Bremer Bay, a sleepy little town that only really gets busy in summer tourist season. Since we got there well before high season, we practically had the town (and more importantly the ocean) to ourselves. Before we even got to hunt for dragons, we explored some of the many beaches and oh my, was that worth it!
Banky Beach
Climbing down to Banky Beach
Surfers at Native Dog Beach
Obviously our main goal was to find seadragons, preferably Leafy Seadragons. So we decided to go for a dive with Craig from Bremer Bay Dive. Craig is known as the expert to find dragons and knows the area like the back of his hand. Weather conditions were not ideal and unfortunately we only had one chance for a boat dive, so the stakes were high when we set out on a blustery morning.
Bremer Bay faces the Southern Ocean (the one around Antarctica) so the water tends to be on the chilly side. On the bright side, the water is a LOT clearer than what I have gotten used to in Perth. An average day will often have more than 20m visibility and I have been told it gets much better than this. Just dropping in and enjoying the views of the rocky reefs covered in kelp and schooling fish is worth diving here.
Good conditions for dragon searching
A Western Blue Devil (Paraplesiops sinclairi)
Now this might be obvious, especially for someone who studies cryptic critters for a living, but seadragons have some pretty damn good camouflage! 30 minutes into the dive we still hadn’t caught as much as a glimpse of one. I was still enjoying myself and I know better than most that the ocean is not a zoo. But I also realised that with the bad weather coming in, this was likely to be our only chance of seeing a Leafy Seadragon.
The beautiful Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques)
So when a few minutes later Craig enthusiastically pointed out a dragon, I was more than a little bit excited. It’s hard to describe just how amazing these animals are, or how I overwhelmed I felt to actually get to see one. But I’m getting goosebumps just writing this and thinking about the dive. Leafy Seadragons are without a doubt one of the most outlandish, beautiful and downright weird fish that roam the seas, and I count my lucky stars that I got to see them underwater.
Having fulfilled our Leafy Seadragon mission, we relaxed a few more days in Bremer Bay, hoping for the weather to clear before driving to Cape Le Grand National Park in Esperance. The area is known for it’s stunning beaches, great hikes, and outstanding marine life.
Lucky Bay, Cape Le Grand National Park
We camped in Lucky Bay, while we were not very lucky with the weather (thunderstorms and tents are not the best combination), the bay itself is gorgeous. If you’ve ever seen a picture of kangaroo lounging on a white sand beach with turquoise waters, chances are very high it was taking in Lucky Bay (see below). More interesting for us is that you can also dive right off the beach, and that dragons are rumored to roam the waters.
Despite the less than ideal conditions, we decided to give it a go and hope for the best. The rocky dive site is surrounded by vast seagrass meadows, which make an ideal habitat for the Leafy Seadragon’s cousin; the Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus). Weedies have less frills, and are a bit more colourful than Leafies. They also seem to be more common, and are found higher up the Australian coast than Leafies. We don’t know much more about them, but their preferred habitats are disappearing, which is cause for concern.
Tanika watching a Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus)
Initially we started looking for Leafies (which are sometimes present at the site) near the rocks covered with kelp, but the swelly conditions really weren’t helping. Once we changed our focus to the seagrass instead, it did not take us very long before we found two beautiful Weedy Seadragons. It was interesting to see that these Weedies were much more green in colour compared to the ones I’d seen before in Perth and Sydney. Perhaps an adaption to the high seagrass cover in the area? Food for thought!
The day after, it was already time to head back to Perth, although I would have loved to stay around much longer (even with the crappy weather). I definitely hope I’ll make it back there soon, not just to chase more dragons. There is more to do in the areas than just diving and snorkeling. Next time I’m definitely bringing a surfboard and my hiking shoes. Most of all, I’ll make sure to have more than just a week to do both spots.
Beach walks, not a bad way to spend your time between dives
If you’ve made it this far in this blog, well done! As a reward I can offer you some more pictures of the trip, enjoy! 🙂
Craig the dragon-chaser and a male Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques)
Bremer Bay flora
Heading to a hidden beach
Wandering the beach in Bremer Bay
Fancy seadragon gate
Critter Research 
Wld be Interested in your thoughts of possibility to see sea dragons at Lucky Bay by snorkeling only? Do you recall approx depth?
LikeLike
Might be too late for this, but it should be possible, though not easy. They tend to hang out at the edge of the seagrass, I seem to remember photographing a few around 8m depth. They might be shallower too, but it’ll take a keen eye and some good breath holds 😉
LikeLike
Thanks for reply. Yes, been and back again, no luck at Lucky Bay this time.
LikeLike