‘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.
The black-mouthed tun snail as it clambered over the reef
When I took my first photographs of the live black-mouthed tun snail (Tonna melanostoma) and posted them on iNaturalist, I had no idea that there were no other – as in none, zip, nada – images of it in the public domain; just one of a broken shell that is housed in the Auckland Museum. This is my featured image for 3 March.
Read MoreTonna melanostoma
My photos of the Tonna melanostoma, a giant underwater mollusc, are the only ones of the live animal in the public domain. We are so fortunate to have these special and rare creatures living in our coral-reef lagoons; their existence here serves to highlight what a special habitat Norfolk Island’s reef really is. It is an ecosystem that must be preserved at all costs.
Read MoreLike fragile jewels floating on the ocean currents, the common violet snail feeds on a fellow compatriots in the pleustal zone just beneath the ocean’s surface, the bluebottle. We should be grateful, because they are doing us a service by chomping on those stingers!
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