‘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.
Healthy montipora coral, Norfolk Island
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 MoreI couldn’t resist posting these beautiful images of floating seaweed. Enjoy!
Read MoreThe marine algae Hydroclathrus clathratus, Norfolk Island
It’s common, wide spread around the globe, and yet I have only noticed it in recent weeks. It has been hiding in plain sight, yet this spongey algal blob, Hydroclathrus clathratus, is edible, and has been found to possess some remarkable medicinal properties. Read on to find out more!
Read MoreCrustose coralline algae, Norfolk Island
Animal, vegetable or mineral? What are crustose coralline algae? Are they important? What role do they play on our coral reefs?
There’s a lot to learn about coralline algae. For a humble lifeform, they really pack a punch.
Read MoreHealthy montipora coral, Norfolk Island
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.
Read MoreA common view of an aatuti as you swim into its territory!
One species that is doing remarkably well on Norfolk Island’s reef as it inexorably transitions from coral-dominated to algal-dominated is the banded scalyfin, Parma polylepis, which is unsurprising as their main food source is algae. The downside is they harass and bully all the other species that come anywhere near their territory, to the detriment of our biodiversity. Find out more here.
Read MoreTiny shells collected from the beach, Norfolk Island 1990s
On Norfolk Island, Australian Marine Parks recently issued a no-take area in our coral reef lagoon habitats. My hope is that with these bans in place, in addition to curbing runaway algal growth, there will be an improvement across the reef ecosystem in a number of different species, with subsequent knock effects for others, including for our molluscs, wrasse and octopus species.
Read MoreStylocheilus striatus – commonly called the lined sea hare, blue ring sea hare or furry sea hare
Stylocheilus striatus – commonly called the lined sea hare, blue ring sea hare or furry sea hare – have appeared in numbers at one end of the shallows of Emily Bay. These little sea hares are great to have around as they consume the toxic blue-green alga that fish and other herbivores don’t or can’t eat or tolerate.
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