Today, 28 July, is World Nature Conservation Day. After the dry 2024, Norfolk Island’s reef is looking healthier – a brief reprieve as less water - laden with nutrients - flowed into the lagoon. These photos show what’s possible. It’s a reminder that recovery is within reach – though renewed runoff could quickly undo the gains.
Read MoreHealthy montipora coral, Norfolk Island
Warning signs: shifting baselines on Norfolk Island’s reef
Today is World Ocean Day — a timely moment to launch my week-long blog series on Norfolk Island’s reef. Each day this week, I’ll be sharing photo essays that document the slow but steady pressures reshaping this fragile reef. Today: how shifting baselines make us blind to what we’ve already lost.
Read MoreAcropora corals, Norfolk Island’s reef
Brown? Yes. Boring? Definitely not!
Norfolk Island’s reef is one of Australia’s most southerly. It isn’t showy like the Great Barrier Reef, and I often hear the comment that it is a little dowdy – boring and brown. I’m here to tell you that it is anything but.
For this little photo essay I randomly selected just a handful of my many ‘boring, brown’ coral images to demonstrate my point. I barely scratched the surface of my photo library, yet I think you will agree, the diversity is just amazing!
Read MoreLow tide at Cemetery Bay, Norfolk Island
A rare gem – Cemetery Bay, Norfolk Island
No focus on Norfolk Island’s reef would be complete without a look at Cemetery Bay. It’s worth strolling along this beautiful beach at low tide. It is the island’s dog beach, so you will see plenty of locals out walking here, but better still is what you can see in the water – healthy corals happily growing right up to the beach.
Read MoreJust some of our beautiful corals on Norfolk Island
A boring, brown reef?
People say that Norfolk Island’s reef is rather boring and brown when compared to the Great Barrier Reef. While it may not be as colourful, I think you have to agree that it is anything but boring brown!
Read MoreHealthy montipora coral, Norfolk Island
Portrait of a slow death
Today’s focus on Norfolk Island’s reef is a photo essay. This series of photographs taken over the course of a year demonstrates how disease affects a montipora coral bommie by gradually killing the coral and creating an environment that allows algae to gain a foothold and to eventually take over.
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The Great Big Coral Spawn Myth
The mass spawning coral myth, debunked: coral mass spawning has captured the imagination of the public, while some of the coverage in the media has cemented a number of myths surrounding the event. The most pervasive being that mass spawning only occurs on one night each year. Not true! Read more here.
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When corals go blue!
August is the coldest month of the year in the water here on Norfolk Island, with the temperature hovering around 18–19C. Not only do some swimmers turn a little bit blue if they stay in too long, so too do some of the corals. Read on to find out why.
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