A juvenile Hawksbill sea turtle, *Eretmochelys imbricata,* inside Emily Bay lagoon, Norfolk Island, listed as critically endangered, according to the IUCN Red List, and vulnerable under the EPBC Act

'Barometers of life' – National Threatened Species Day

September 7, 2024

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?

A Norfolk Island endemic species, the Norfolk Island blenny, *Parablennius serratolineatus*

Atlas of Living Australia recognises iNaturalist observations for Norfolk Island

August 16, 2023

After about 18 months of asking, and with the help of some wonderful people from the data department of the Atlas of Living Australia and the Australian Museum, the Atlas of Living Australia website now recognises iNaturalist citizen science observations for Norfolk Island. Which is definitely something worth celebrating!

For the sake of our grandchildren

March 26, 2023

What will my grandson see when he is old enough to snorkel on Norfolk Island’s reef? Will there be anything left as I know it? Or will he think it is all great because of that hoary old phenomenon called ‘shifting baseline syndrome’? This record of all my photos and observations will give him some idea of what we had in our bays in the 2020s.

Tiptoeing through the government silos

March 19, 2023

In the 1960s we had reports voicing concerns around water quality, but nothing was done. When the Commonwealth of Australia’s EPBC Act came into force in 1999, nothing was done. Surely it is high time the issues of failing and inadequate infrastructure, deficient Norfolk Island laws and unsatisfactory protections were fixed once and for all?

Acropora coral overgrown with algae, Norfolk Island

We can't say we weren't warned

March 18, 2023

Today’s post for the March focus on Norfolk Island’s reef is a letter. Just that, and nothing more. The authors of this letter have very generously given me permission to reproduce it here. In it, Dr Kellie Pendoley and Dr Martin Goldsmith warn us about the future of Emily Bay. Written nearly eight years ago they give the coral reef habitat five to ten years before it is gone as we know it.

Tiny shells collected from the beach, Norfolk Island 1990s

You don’t always know what you’ve got – ’til it’s gone

March 8, 2023

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.

Nov 20, 2024

Then and now – shifting baseline syndrome laid bare

If disease were spreading through our native forests, if our trees were developing strange growths that hollowed them out, making them brittle in the face of each passing storm, would five years have slid by with the problem worsening by the day? That is exactly what is happening on Norfolk Island’s reef. Slowly, insidiously, it is dying and turning to slime.

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.

'Barometers of life' – National Threatened Species Day

Sep 7, 2024

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.

Out on A Swim

Latest Posts