Here's looking at you! — 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.

I thought I’d have a bit of fun and post some of my favourite images of fish as they look at me head on. It’s such a beautiful perspective, and one that often makes you wonder what they are thinking. Enjoy!

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Bluespine unicornfish - Naso unicornis

Pacific rockcod - Trachypoma macracanthus

Blacktip morwong - Cheilodactylus francisi

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Masked bannerfish - Heniochus monoceros

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Spotted porcupinefish - Diodon hystrix

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Bluespine unicornfish - Naso unicornis

Halfmoon grouper - Epinephelus rivulatus

Banded scalyfin - Parma polylepis

Dick's damsel - Plectroglyphidodon dickii

Snubnose dart - Trachinotus blochii

Vagabond butterflyfish - Chaetodon vagabundus

Banded scalyfin - Parma polylepis

Sixbar wrasse - Thalassoma hardwicke

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Brassy drummer - Kyphosus vaigiensis

Banded scalyfin - Parma polylepis

Blue drummer - Girella cyanea

Pacific rockcod - Trachypoma macracanthus

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Black butterflyfish - Chaetodon flavirostris

Painted morwong - Cheilodactylus ephippium

Norfolk cardinalfish - Ostorhinchus norfolcensis

Redcap triplefin - Enneapterygius rufopileus

Pinstriped butterflyfish - Chaetodon lunulatus

Clouded saury - Saurida nebulosa

Notch-head marblefish - Aplodactylus etheridgii

Surge wrasse - Thalassoma purpureum

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Bluespot butterflyfish - Chaetodon plebeius

Bluebarred parrotfish - Scarus ghobban

Blackback butterflyfish - Chaetodon melannotus

Trevally - Pseudocaranx sp "dentex"

Convict surgeonfish - Acanthurus triostegus

Bluespot butterflyfish - Chaetodon plebeius

Bluebarred parrotfish - Scarus ghobban

Inscribed wrasse - Notolabrus inscriptus

Green moon wrasse - Thalassoma lutescens

Threadfin butterflyfish - Chaetodon auriga

Blackback butterflyfish - Chaetodon melannotus

Brassy drummer - Kyphosus vaigiensis

Snubnose dart - Trachinotus blochii

Bluespine unicornfish - Naso unicornis

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Dick's damsel - Plectroglyphidodon dickii

Wartylip mullet - Crenimugil crenilabis

Spotted sawtail - Prionurus maculatus

August 16, 2026

What’s grazing in the green stuff?

A proliferation of Bryopsis on the reef has brought some beautiful little underwater grazers with it. I follow the trail from sap-sucking sea slugs and egg masses to a bigger question – why is there so much Bryopsis around at the moment?

August 8, 2026

The clam beneath Emily Bay

I’ve seen the beautiful shells of Laciolina chloroleuca in Emily Bay for decades, but I’d never really stopped to wonder where the living animals were. It turns out they may be buried half a metre beneath the sand. A closer look at an easily overlooked clam, its extraordinary shell markings, and the hidden life beneath our lagoon.

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.

July 13, 2026

Reef reality in pictures

Let the pictures do the talking. This is the reality on Norfolk Island’s reef today, laid out in a two-minute video.

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.