Bounty Day brings some biting winds! — Norfolk Island's Reef

Out on A Swim

‘Out on a swim’ is a coral reef blog that tells the stories of the characters who live under the waves and what has caught my eye when ‘out on a swim’ in the lagoons of Norfolk Island. It is also a record of the difficulties Norfolk Island’s reef faces, like many others around the world, as a result of the poor water quality that has been allowed to flow onto it.

This page shows the most recent blog posts. For the complete catalogue, visit the ‘Out on a swim index’ page.

This blog is rated in the Top 20 Coral Reef Blogs in the world.

Today, 8 June, is Bounty Day here on Norfolk Island. It’s a day of celebration for Norfolk Islanders of Pitcairn descent – the day when, in 1856, their forbears first arrived on the island. We were honoured to be invited to join local friends for the Bounty Day picnic lunch in the compound. This is such a great celebration of what it means to be part of the community. It was definitely worth braving the biting chill winds, which felt they had hailed directly from the Antarctic, to share such a special day.

At the beginning of last week, I was finally able to use my camera again to record the damage from the massive swells we have had rolling in, courtesy of this year’s La Niña. The visibility had been about as far as my hand in front of my face for some time, but as it cleared over a period of a couple of days I was able to see the havoc wrought by the waves. I have included a slideshow of some of the recent damage (below). This was on top of quite a bit of damage back in January. It hasn’t been a good year for the poor coral.

Many will say that this is part of the natural order of things for the reef, and, of course, they are quite correct. But sadly, some parts of the reef here are covered in algal growth or are damaged by disease – all caused by the high nutrient levels as a result of the polluted water draining and permeating into the bay areas over many years. This additional, albeit natural, stress on top of the other issues facing the reef is so sad to see. Large coral colonies, some 20 or 30 years old and older, have been destroyed in the space of a few days.

On the 4 June I was lucky enough to spot a salmon-pink Platydoris cinereobranchiata, a type of sea slug, at the Lone Pine side of Emily Bay.

That same day, I also saw three doubleheaders communing together, off the Salt House, quietly grazing away. One was a very large male, terminal phase, while the other two were both primary phase. The surge wrasse, Thalassoma purpureum, were out and about in goodly numbers, and a small flotilla of Bluespotted cornetfish – Fistularia commersonii.

The aatuti (banded scalyfin or Parma polylepis) have been getting assertively territorial, guarding their little patches of algae against all-comers, possibly, I think, because they have been mating.

I was also lucky enough to see two spotted porcupinefish, Diodon hystrix, caught in flagrante delicto (sorry, no photos of this).

And so the circle of life continues.

Platydoris cinereobranchiata

Three doubleheaders - Coris bulbifrons

Banded scalyfin - Parma polylepis

Four bluespotted cornetfish - Fistularia commersonii.

Above: Some of the destruction meted out on the reef at the end of May and beginning of June.

October 28, 2026

When storms rearrange the reef

Sometimes the sea rearranges a reef in a matter of hours! In the third article of my six-part photographic series, I revisit corals broken, overturned or swept away by powerful swells and storm surges. Some disappeared altogether, while others found surprising ways to survive. Five photographic sequences reveal just how dramatically Norfolk Island's reef can change.

October 26, 2026

When the reef fights back – coral growth and recovery

Not every coral story ends badly! Among six years of underwater photographs are some wonderful examples of growth, survival and recovery. From corals that have grown spectacularly to others that have survived bleaching, breakage or even being turned upside down, this second article in my photographic series celebrates some of the reef's more encouraging stories.

October 24, 2026

The neighbours – six years of watching the same reef

When I began photographing Norfolk Island's reef in 2020, I simply recorded whatever caught my eye. Six years later, those photographs have become a record of individual corals and their changing fortunes – growth, competition, survival and loss. This is the first of six articles looking back at what I've seen, and sometimes what I wish I hadn't.

October 10, 2026

Pulling the rugosity from out of the reef

What do ‘rugosity’, structural complexity and channeling your inner fish have in common? Quite a lot, as it turns out. This week I’m looking at how all the lumps, bumps, branches, holes and ledges on a reef create habitat – with a brief detour into one of my long-standing tricks for navigating tertiary study: write down the jargon until it starts to make sense.

September 27, 2026

How does a sea slug smell?

It started with a close-up of a little Elysia and two rhinophores that looked like tiny rolled-up scrolls. Once I noticed them, I started going back through years of sea-slug photos and realised just how wildly different these sensory organs can be – ridged, rolled, curled, tubular and, in sea hares, distinctly rabbit-eared. So this week’s rabbit hole is all about how sea slugs ‘smell’ underwater, and why their noses come in so many different shapes.

September 19, 2026

The Elite Fleet sails in

Nearly six years ago, my very first blog post was about the strange blue and violet creatures that live at the ocean’s surface – a group I christened Norfolk Island’s ‘Elite Fleet’. Since then I’ve seen plenty of bluebottles and the occasional violet sea snail, but never a by-the-wind sailor. Until this morning. Velella velella is not a true jellyfish, but a colonial hydrozoan with a transparent sail that lets the wind help carry it across the ocean. So what exactly is this extraordinary little creature, how does it ‘sail’, and what connects it to the rest of the fleet?

September 18, 2026

In a nutshell – where I stand on the proposed Norfolk Island Marine Park

I support the proposed expansion of Norfolk Marine Park and its renaming as Norfolk Island Marine Park. There is much to welcome – strong offshore protection, no mining, and recognition of the importance of sustainable local fishing. But I also have some reservations. Why does Cascade need to be removed from the Marine Park at all? How will more than 430,000 km² actually be monitored and enforced? How do we make sure Norfolk people have a genuine role in management? And, above all, how do we ensure that the enormous new park does not draw attention away from the small, stressed reef immediately beside us?

September 13, 2026

No seagrass, but plenty of turtles

Norfolk Island does not have seagrass, although one of our most conspicuous green algae is often mistaken for it. Feather and grape Caulerpa can both form striking patches across the lagoon. I take a closer look at what Caulerpa actually is, why it is so easily confused with seagrass, and where our green turtles fit into the story.

September 6, 2026

Watching El Niño from Norfolk Island

El Niño is strengthening across the Pacific, but that does not tell us exactly what the coming months will bring to Norfolk Island. After a long wet spell, I am watching our rainfall and water supplies more closely again – and, underwater, keeping an eye on sea temperature, algae, coral recruits and the fish that turn up on the reef.

September 2, 2026

What the world’s reefs are telling Norfolk Island

Two major new coral reef reports carry a clear message for Norfolk Island: reefs can recover when pressures ease, but the time available for recovery is shrinking. Norfolk Islanders were raising concerns about water quality, runoff and the health of Emily and Slaughter Bays nearly forty years ago. Today we have much better science, a changing climate and a far clearer understanding of how closely the catchment and reef are connected. This article looks at what that means for water quality, long-term monitoring, dredging and how we manage Kingston from land to sea.