Here's looking at you! — Norfolk Island's Reef

I thought I’d have a bit of fun and post some of my favourite images of fish as they look at me head on. It’s such a beautiful perspective, and one that often makes you wonder what they are thinking. Enjoy!

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Bluespine unicornfish - Naso unicornis

Pacific rockcod - Trachypoma macracanthus

Blacktip morwong - Cheilodactylus francisi

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Masked bannerfish - Heniochus monoceros

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Spotted porcupinefish - Diodon hystrix

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Bluespine unicornfish - Naso unicornis

Halfmoon grouper - Epinephelus rivulatus

Banded scalyfin - Parma polylepis

Dick's damsel - Plectroglyphidodon dickii

Snubnose dart - Trachinotus blochii

Vagabond butterflyfish - Chaetodon vagabundus

Banded scalyfin - Parma polylepis

Sixbar wrasse - Thalassoma hardwicke

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Brassy drummer - Kyphosus vaigiensis

Banded scalyfin - Parma polylepis

Blue drummer - Girella cyanea

Pacific rockcod - Trachypoma macracanthus

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Black butterflyfish - Chaetodon flavirostris

Painted morwong - Cheilodactylus ephippium

Norfolk cardinalfish - Ostorhinchus norfolcensis

Redcap triplefin - Enneapterygius rufopileus

Pinstriped butterflyfish - Chaetodon lunulatus

Clouded saury - Saurida nebulosa

Notch-head marblefish - Aplodactylus etheridgii

Surge wrasse - Thalassoma purpureum

Multispine damselfish - Neoglyphidodon polyacanthus

Bluespot butterflyfish - Chaetodon plebeius

Bluebarred parrotfish - Scarus ghobban

Blackback butterflyfish - Chaetodon melannotus

Trevally - Pseudocaranx sp "dentex"

Convict surgeonfish - Acanthurus triostegus

Bluespot butterflyfish - Chaetodon plebeius

Bluebarred parrotfish - Scarus ghobban

Inscribed wrasse - Notolabrus inscriptus

Green moon wrasse - Thalassoma lutescens

Threadfin butterflyfish - Chaetodon auriga

Blackback butterflyfish - Chaetodon melannotus

Brassy drummer - Kyphosus vaigiensis

Snubnose dart - Trachinotus blochii

Bluespine unicornfish - Naso unicornis

Three-striped butterflyfish - Chaetodon tricinctus

Dick's damsel - Plectroglyphidodon dickii

Wartylip mullet - Crenimugil crenilabis

Spotted sawtail - Prionurus maculatus

Oct 20, 2024

Gorgeous, boring and brown!

Gorgeous, boring brown, Montipora corals! These beautiful coral colonies (and remember, these consist of loads of tiny little animals, which work together to create these amazing shapes) are one of our key reef-building corals. There are around 85 known species belonging to the Montipora genus.

Oct 14, 2024

Taking stock. Which way from here?

CSIRO are on Norfolk Island this week to present the findings of their report into water quality. As our Administrator, George Plant, says: ‘What the data shows us is that the quality of ground and surface water entering Emily and Slaughter Bays often contains high levels of contamination ... The health of the Emily and Slaughter Bay reef will continue to decline if we do not improve water quality.’

Sep 15, 2024

You may call this beauty 'Lobophyllia recta sensu Veron'

One of the first corals to catch my eye when I set out with my new camera in January 2020 was this stunning boulder coral that sits off the Salt House in Emily Bay. Regular swimmers would all be aware of its presence, but not many would realise that it is quite possibly an as-yet undescribed species of coral, which for the moment is known as Lobophyllia recta sensu Veron.

Sep 7, 2024

'Barometers of life' – National Threatened Species Day

Today's National Threatened Species Day post discusses the conundrum of Australia's threatened species list and the IUCN Red List as they relate to vulnerable and threatened species here on Norfolk Island in the Marine Park. How, for example, do we offer protections to something that hasn't been formally identified yet, let alone listed as threatened?

Aug 9, 2024

Groundhog Day in Emily Bay

Four years ago, we had what amounted to nothing short of an environmental catastrophe in our lagoons. In the intervening years we have had numerous reports commissioned and delivered, and I have written plenty of blog posts about our poor water quality. Three weeks ago, on 20 July 2024, it all happened again. In this post, I explain exactly what occurred. Groundhog Day in Emily Bay, Norfolk Island.

Jul 23, 2024

Ageing colourfully. This guy!

I’ve been photographing this guy, a green moon wrasse, since 2020, when he was a young adult just transitioning from being a female to a male. Green moon wrasse are said to live five to seven years in the wild, which means that our lovely old friend here could well be classified as an elder. This post is dedicated to this cheeky and inquisitive fish, the boss!

Jul 10, 2024

While you were sleeping ...

This massive and incredibly slow-growing Paragoniastrea australensis sits in Emily Bay on Norfolk Island and is one of our most recognisable bommies. While all looks reasonably calm during the day, at night, while you are sleeping, the surface of the coral colony seethes with millions of tiny tentacles busily reaching out to find food, while others aggressively ward off opportunistic interlopers.

Jul 7, 2024

Gender transitioning in the birdnose wrasse

All birdnose wrasses are born female but will change to males if the conditions are right. Its appearance changes radically throughout is lifecycle, from when it is a juvenile, through to being a female and then finally to being a male (known as sexual metamorphosis, or sequential hermaphroditism). For about three weeks you can see that transition taking place in the sequence of photos in this blog.

May 27, 2024

One hundred year-old coral gone in less than one hundred days

Paragoniastrea australensis is an incredibly slow growing species of coral. The colony featured in this post is probably 100 years old. When disease took hold in January 2024, it was gone, dead, in less than 100 days. Now it is a skeleton overgrown with algae. The worst part of this sad story is that it is our fault it died.

Apr 22, 2024

Fish stocktake – the mysteries, the surprises and the wins

In my ‘Year in review for 2023 on Norfolk Island’s reef’, published in December 2023, I made a few observations about the apparent disappearance of some fish species from Norfolk Island’s lagoons. I thought I would revisit these, principally because since December there has been so much additional fish activity here, with some exciting population increases and a few new species turning up.

Out on A Swim

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