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Norfolk Island's Reef

Discover a fragile paradise – Norfolk Island's beaches, lagoons and coral reef
  • Home
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    • Kingston, Norfolk Island
    • Underwater
    • Reef Fish
    • Eels
    • Corals
    • Sea Anemones
    • Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs and Flatworms
    • Octopuses
    • Sea Urchins and Sea Cucumbers
    • Sea Stars
    • Turtles
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    • Out On A Swim Index
  • Out on a swim - blog
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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 blog is rated in the Top 20 Coral Reef Blogs in the world.

Feisty zingers! Focus on the 'brain' coral, Paragoniastrea spp.

December 1, 2024

If corals had characters, then the Paragoniastrea spp. would be described as feisty, or even downright aggressive when it comes to asserting itself over its neighbours. They are also rather colourful.

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In Corals Tags corals, coral reef, Paragoniastrea australensis, brain coral, lesser star coral
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Emily Bay: Paragoniastrea australensis, also known as the lesser star coral, is a species of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. It occurs in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific region. (Source Wikipedia)

The ancient massives!

March 20, 2022

We have some beauties when it comes to brain corals inside our lagoons. They are quite amazing, and a hugely important part of a healthy reef. Here’s the low down!

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Tags corals, coral reef, Norfolk Island, brain coral, Cnidaria
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Featured
Cute as buttons – Astrea curta
Feb 20, 2025
Cute as buttons – Astrea curta
Feb 20, 2025

Astrea curta corals are ‘small, moderately plocoid [flattened], distinct, and almost circular’ . Normally grey-green in colour, you can see from the images here, ours are often beautiful rich gold, although they do vary. They have a neat growth habit and button-like corallites, which can grow in columns, spherically or flattened. Large colonies of these can form gorgeous undulating bumps.

Feb 20, 2025
From 'Watch' to 'Warning'
Jan 26, 2025
From 'Watch' to 'Warning'
Jan 26, 2025

Last week, the chance of coral bleaching in Norfolk Island’s inshore lagoons was raised from ‘Watch’ to ‘Warning’ and will more than likely rise to Alert levels one and two in coming weeks. So why do I worry about water quality all the time when bleaching seems inevitable these days and so the reef is probably doomed anyway? Read on to find out.

Jan 26, 2025
From little things – watching them grow
Jan 4, 2025
From little things – watching them grow
Jan 4, 2025

Small numbers of different fish species is not an unusual phenomenon on Norfolk Island’s reef, but it does demonstrate what a tiny, precious, coral reef ecosystem we have, when we can count individuals on one hand and watch each of them grow, like these little blackeye thicklips, a member of the wrasse family.

Jan 4, 2025
A year in review – 2024 on Norfolk Island’s Reef
Dec 27, 2024
A year in review – 2024 on Norfolk Island’s Reef
Dec 27, 2024

It is five years since I began wielding a camera underwater in Norfolk Island’s lagoons and my third ‘year in review’ for this ‘Out on a swim’ blog. And what a journey it has been. At least this year I have some great news to report, but – a bit like a curate’s egg (partly bad and partly good) – there are also some downers. Find out what 2024 has meant for Norfolk Island’s reef.

Dec 27, 2024
A smooth and slippery echidna
Dec 10, 2024
A smooth and slippery echidna
Dec 10, 2024

How did the snowflake moray get its proper (scientific) name Echidna nebulosa, and what does it have to do with Australia’s famous and iconic marsupial, the echidna? Read on to find out more …

Dec 10, 2024
Feisty zingers! Focus on the 'brain' coral, Paragoniastrea spp.
Dec 1, 2024
Feisty zingers! Focus on the 'brain' coral, Paragoniastrea spp.
Dec 1, 2024

If corals had characters, then the Paragoniastrea spp. would be described as feisty, or even downright aggressive when it comes to asserting itself over its neighbours. They are also rather colourful.

Dec 1, 2024
Then and now – shifting baseline syndrome laid bare
Nov 20, 2024
Then and now – shifting baseline syndrome laid bare
Nov 20, 2024

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.

Nov 20, 2024
Gorgeous, boring and brown!
Oct 20, 2024
Gorgeous, boring and brown!
Oct 20, 2024

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 20, 2024
Taking stock. Which way from here?
Oct 14, 2024
Taking stock. Which way from here?
Oct 14, 2024

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.’

Oct 14, 2024
You may call this beauty 'Lobophyllia recta sensu Veron'
Sep 15, 2024
You may call this beauty 'Lobophyllia recta sensu Veron'
Sep 15, 2024

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 15, 2024

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