The first week of spring is already done and dusted. Amazing!
The most momentous event for me this week was the final release of the report by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, commissioned by Australian Marine Parks, into the health of the reef here on Norfolk Island. The report’s findings were confronting, but I confess to not being surprised. However, on the upside we now have scientific evidence to back my hunch that all is not well on the reef. Which means we can no longer ignore the issue and sweep it under a carpet of ignorance and indifference. We need to fix the causes of the problem before the reef’s health suffers further.
My main motivating factor for starting this website was my alarm at what I saw when I returned to live here just more than three years ago. Coral reefs, globally, are facing a tough gig right now, and we have to do everything we can to make sure they survive. You can read my full take on the state of the reef on an earlier blog post, ‘The State of Play on Norfolk Island’s Reef’. If you are interested in reading what the experts say, you can find the links to two reports at the bottom of that article.
On a happier note, let’s segue to my observations while out on a swim this week.
Swimming in the bays can be incredibly deceptive. Very windy weather puts many people off going for a swim, but beneath the waves there has been some great visibility. That is because the prevailing winds were coming from the north and east, and Emily Bay is largely sheltered from that – under the water, anyway!
Observations this week included swimming into a mullet school just off the Salt House (top photo). As I quietly looked on, they proceeded to swim slowly around me like a giant wheel – quite an experience.
Dwarf sea hare next to my finger
The green moon wrasse (images above) were very active and inquisitive this week. One, in particular, followed me for a good half an hour as I made my way around the reef off the Salt House. Most wrasses use their pectoral fins for locomotion, oscillating them a bit like wings. It is called labriform locomotion. I managed to capture this colourful wrasse mid-flight (left image)!
I also noticed dozens and dozens of dwarf sea hares (Aplysia concava) out and about, quietly munching away on algae. Initially they are quite difficult to see, but once you’ve seen one everywhere you look you’ll see them hiding in plain sight. To give you an idea of how tiny they are, I have included an image with my index finger (right).
This week I put together a composite image of just some of the corals I have photographed over the last 18 months (since I got my little camera).
Often people remark to me how brown and boring the corals are here. ‘Yeh, right! I reply!
We are one of the world’s most southerly reefs, so, yes, we don’t have the bright eye-popping colours of those found on the Great Barrier Reef, but when you look closely, I think you will agree that they are certainly not all brown! You can see many more close-ups of corals over on my corals page on this website.