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

Apr 5, 2026

What Norfolk Island’s reef tells us about environmental blind spots

The Kingston dredging proposal on Norfolk Island raises a bigger question than dredging alone: how well do standard environmental assessment tools capture the real significance of a remote and unusual reef system like Norfolk Island’s?

Mar 30, 2026

Hammer coral time!

Hammer corals have unique tentacles that are large, fleshy, and tubular; these terminate in a ‘T’-shaped, hammer-head or anchor. Beneath all these softly waving tentacles is an extraordinary skeleton structure, which helps define them as a large polyp stony coral.

Mar 24, 2026

Norfolk Island’s fishes: drifters, residents and the ones still missing

Norfolk Island’s fish fauna reflects both connection and isolation. Some species may arrive from elsewhere as drifting larvae, some populations appear to persist locally, and some fishes known from islands on either side of Norfolk have still not been recorded here. This post looks at what old survey work, regional checklists and genetic studies suggest about that more complicated picture.

Mar 7, 2026

Alveopora or flowerpot coral – how to tell the difference

They look alike at first glance, but Alveopora and flowerpot corals are not the same. The easiest way to tell them apart is to count the tentacles.

Feb 27, 2026

Norfolk’s lagoonal reef – the 2025 report, in plain English

We now have the 2025 Norfolk Island reef health report, so I’m taking the opportunity to translate it into plain English here. Sadly, it’s more of the same story in Emily and Slaughter Bays – a reef that can cope with some stress, but is being asked to cope with too much, too often.

Feb 20, 2026

Halimeda’s night shift – why this reef algae changes colour

Halimeda is a calcareous green reef alga that forms new segments overnight, shifts from white to bright green by dawn, then pales again as calcification begins. A quick look at one of the reef’s smartest algae.

Jan 11, 2026

Reef real estate – a bubble-tip’s six-year stand-off

Reef space is finite, and nothing ‘shares’ it politely. This short photo essay follows one bubble-tip anemone on Norfolk Island’s lagoonal reef as it holds a crater surrounded by Montipora. The coral builds a rim; the anemone holds the centre. Six years apart, and the argument continues.

Dec 28, 2025

A year in review – 2025 on Norfolk Island's reef

Norfolk Island’s reef in 2025 – a year in review. From NOAA bleaching alerts and the UN Ocean Conference ‘Warning Signs’ series to post-drought coral recovery and a wet winter revealed in long-term rainfall records, this post captures the wins, losses, and shifting baselines beneath the lagoon. Includes reef photos, highlights from Reef Relief, and standout stories from 2025 – from coral health and disease to boxfish biomimicry, sea urchins, nudibranchs, and heat-stress signals in anemones.

Dec 15, 2025

Herbicides, heritage, and an inshore reef: what happens when land management meets lagoon health

Herbicide use near Emily, Slaughter and Cemetery Bays raises questions about inshore reef health, heritage land management, and environmental protection on Norfolk Island.

Dec 8, 2025

Signs of bleaching – 8 December 2025

I took these photographs this morning, Monday, 8 December 2025. A few warm days of settled weather, little cloud cover and low tides in the hottest part of the day have led to some early bleaching on our reef. Bleaching doesn’t always mean death for our corals, but it is concerning to have this so early in the summer season. Fingers crossed the conditions don’t last and the reef can recover.