Another underwater drama has been playing out in the shallows of Emily Bay over the last few weeks.
At the end of November, I photographed a mass of newly hatched fry gathered around what looks like an old oil drum. Over time they’ve grown bigger; In the following weeks I saw some of them in open water having left the safety of the drum's coral crevices, and other refuges, to head for the reef.
Attracted by the easy pickings, I then watched as the silver trevally – Pseudocaranx sp 'dentex' – arrived. Like a sleek pack of wolves they swept around, in and out of the drum scooping up whatever they could. The fry shrank back, huddling together, trying to stay out of the maelstrom and away from so many hungry mouths.
The fry’s numbers have been depleted considerably by these regular visits made by the insatiable trevally, but still some survive and are growing bigger by the day. They are mainly juvenile big eyes – the Norfolk cardinalfish, or Ostorhinchus norfolcensis – but there are also some juvenile smoky pullers – Chromis fumea – in their number.
Last week another visitor arrived on the scene. This time a lone blue trevally – Carangoides ferdau. It's agonising to watch, but then you also have to admire these sleek streamlined hunters as they speed around the tight corners, swooping on anything in their path.
You probably don’t realise it, but this daily drama unfolds right by your feet as you wade into the peacock-blue shallows of Emily Bay for a swim.
As an aside, in previous years, much of this action happened beneath the raft, where there was a fantastic underwater 'cave' for the babies. The new raft has very little space beneath its rafters because of the way it has been constructed. And of course the weed hasn't yet had a chance to grow back as luxuriantly as it was before. So far this year, very few fish have decided to make it their nursery. It will be interesting to see if that changes as the weed grows. I'll be watching with interest.
