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.

Quality Row, Kingston, Norfolk Island, January 2025. The year began deep in drought.

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

December 28, 2025

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.

Featured

Dec 28, 2025

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

Dec 28, 2025

Dec 15, 2025

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

Dec 15, 2025

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

Dec 15, 2025

Dec 8, 2025

Signs of bleaching – 8 December 2025

Dec 8, 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.

Dec 8, 2025

Dec 3, 2025

Nature is my teacher

Dec 3, 2025

This is a thank-you note. Five years after my first Out on a swim post – written with zero marine science quals and a head full of questions – I’m still in the water, now as a PhD candidate, because an extraordinary mix of locals, volunteers, researchers and public servants decided to share what they knew. This is the story of how nature – and a very patient community – became my teachers.

Dec 3, 2025

Nov 30, 2025

Reef grief: what dredging has done to other reefs

Nov 30, 2025

From Miami to Fiji, from Dubai to tiny village harbours on atolls, dredging near coral reefs has left a long trail of scars – even on ‘small’ projects. This follow-up to last week’s Kingston post walks through real examples of what happened elsewhere, and what that should make us think about before we dig up our own reef.

Nov 30, 2025

Nov 20, 2025

To dredge or not to dredge? The Kingston Pier channel project

Nov 20, 2025

How much risk are we really taking with the planned dredging at Kingston Pier – and how much protection do our corals actually have on paper? This piece walks through what the federal approval does and doesn’t guarantee, explains why sediment and light matter so much to the reef, and asks the hard questions we need answered before we trade a deeper channel for a shallower future.

Nov 20, 2025

Nov 8, 2025

A coral reef out of balance

Nov 8, 2025

After the long dry spell, the lagoon was crystal clear and full of life. But with the return of the rains, something else has returned too – the brown, filamentous mats of Lyngbya. It’s not seaweed, it’s a cyanobacterium, and when it takes hold it smothers coral and rubble alike. The reef’s way of showing us that every drop of water, from tank to tide, is connected.

Nov 8, 2025

Oct 25, 2025

Aglow among the spines

Oct 25, 2025

Ever seen a sea urchin that seems to glow blue from the shadows? That’s Diadema savignyi showing off its reef shimmer. Beautiful, a little spiky, and definitely not to be messed with.

Oct 25, 2025

Oct 15, 2025

The funky seventies sea slug – Halgerda willeyi

Oct 15, 2025

If ever a sea slug was channeling the 1970s, it’s Halgerda willeyi. With its groovy orange lines and chocolate-brown bumps, it looks straight out of a vintage lounge suite – the kind with shag pile carpet and bold floral cushions. Proof that nature was nailing retro design long before humans caught on.

Oct 15, 2025

Oct 5, 2025

Haddon's barometer

Oct 5, 2025

This Haddon’s anemone has been quietly living in the middle of Norfolk Island’s Emily Bay for years, bleaching and recovering with the seasons. Like corals, sea anemones host microscopic algae that provide most of their food. When stressed by heat or rainfall changes, they lose colour – and tell a story about seasonal changes to the weather.

Oct 5, 2025