For the sake of our grandchildren — 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.

DAY 26 Summary – MARCH FOCUS ON NORFOLK ISLAND’S REEF

More than three years ago, in January 2020, I began recording what I see when I am out on my swims. I talked about my motivation to begin this project in an article called Playing the long game: Norfolk Island’s coral reef and lagoons.

But I can sum it up in two words: my grandson.

What will he see when he is old enough to snorkel on Norfolk Island’s reef? Will there be anything left as I know it? Or will he think it is all great because of that hoary old phenomenon called ‘shifting baseline syndrome’?

Fortunately, I suppose, today we have the technology, and by leaving this record of all my photos and observations, he and his generation will have some idea of what we had in our bays in the 2020s. I wish there had been a resource like this for when I began, because no doubt I, too, am a victim of shifting baseline syndrome.

I say ‘I suppose’ advisedly, because how much better would it be if it was all still there for him to see?

Renowned coral reef researcher Professor Callum Roberts from the University of Exeter in the UK often talks about this phenomenon – the tendency for each new generation to be blind to past losses, and therefore ‘setting their personal baseline of normality by what they first find’. Reef Life, An Underwater Memoir

At the end of February 2023, with his words in mind and in a fit of pique and frustration, I thought I’d spend March featuring different aspects of Norfolk Island’s reef – some of it good and beautiful, some of it frighteningly sad – in order to highlight the amazing stuff that is here and also the detrimental effects that poor water quality is having on the coral reef ecosystem.

This is my last post for my March month-long focus – 26 posts in 26 days – because my grandson arrived on Norfolk Island for a rare visit yesterday, and I fully intend to spend this week enjoying paddling with him in Emily Bay as often as possible.

There is so much more I could have written and talked about, so rest assured I will certainly keep posting about all the interesting stuff I find.

For convenience, I have provided all the titles from the March focus here with links. They are all quick, easy reads.

Let’s not lose this wonderful habitat.

August 1, 2026

Reflections of an accidental marine scientist

What I thought would be a steady plod towards retirement, with plenty of time spent nursing grandchildren, was abruptly upended exactly six years ago today. This is the story of how an environmental catastrophe changed the course of my life – and led me to reinvent myself. It is a reflection on how, and why, I became an accidental marine scientist.

July 24, 2026

From ridge to reef: unpicking the Waterway and Wetland Strategy

Norfolk Island’s draft Waterway and Wetland Strategy will guide work for the next ten years. I support its intent, but it needs to be clear, practical and measurable – joining the dots from ridge to reef so we know whether public money is improving water quality and helping the reef.

June 28, 2026

The red seaweed behind low-methane beef

A small red seaweed on Norfolk’s reef has become part of a much bigger story. Asparagopsis taxiformis can look like a delicate red feather duster or, at another stage of its life cycle, like a tiny cottony pom-pom. It is beautiful, easily overlooked, and now being used in the cattle industry to help reduce methane emissions. This post looks at the reef oddity behind the low-methane beef story – and why repeated local observation can be more useful than it first appears.

June 20, 2026

From coral scar to aatuti farm

Aatuti are bold little algae farmers, but how does one of their farms begin? Over the past year, I have been following several coral patches as small white scars became algal footholds, then larger defended patches. I still cannot say what caused the first wounds, but the photo sequences show something fascinating: on a reef where algae is already gaining ground, even tiny changes on the coral surface can become part of a much bigger story.

June 15, 2026

Norfolk’s water quality – when action is reported as outcome

A recent Australian Government media release presents investment, monitoring and catchment works as progress on Norfolk Island’s water quality. Some of that work is useful, and some of it was badly needed. But activity is not the same as proven improvement. This post looks at Kingston sewerage, wetlands, cattle, acid sulfate soils, groundwater and reef health, and asks whether Emily Bay and Slaughter Bay are actually being better protected.

June 14, 2026

How surgeonfishes got their name

Surgeonfish are named for the sharp little scalpels near their tails, but on Norfolk’s reef their more useful work happens at the other end. Pencil surgeonfish, bluespine unicornfish and their relatives help browse algae across the reef – a small daily job that becomes very valuable on an algae-rich lagoon reef like ours.

May 28, 2026

A shrimp storm

While setting my research cams last week, I swam into what looked like an underwater snowstorm. It appeared to be the aftermath of a mass moulting event, with large numbers of tiny, translucent shrimp-like exoskeletons drifting together near the surface.

Kingston dredging: what happens when a reef does not fit the framework

This correspondence with DCCEEW is about more than one dredging proposal. It is about what happens when an ecologically distinctive place is assessed through standard tools that do not always make its most important values easy to see. I am publishing it here because that is something we need to be aware of, both on Norfolk Island and more broadly in Australia.

May 24, 2026

Kingston dredging: the project advances, the questions remain

Kingston dredging is edging closer, and the paper trail is growing. This post brings together earlier correspondence with the Department and the latest media release so readers can see what has been asked, what has been answered, and what still remains unclear about the project, its rationale, and the protections proposed for the reef.