This Acropora colony on Norfolk Island’s reef was photographed in 2021. Today it is no longer there. Weakened by disease, it was destroyed by a storm surge two years later, in December 2023

Then and now – shifting baseline syndrome laid bare

November 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.

Gorgeous, boring and brown!

October 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.

Extensive area of acropora coral affected by white syndrome on Norfolk Island’s reef

Taking stock. Which way from here?

October 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.’

You may call this beauty 'Lobophyllia recta sensu Veron'

September 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.

The Emily Bay’s massive ‘brain’ coral, *Paragoniastrea australensis*, photographed on 6 July 2024

While you were sleeping ...

July 10, 2024

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.

Is this Atramentous Necrosis? This January, examples of this disease are popping up across Emily Bay on Norfolk Island

Combine bacteria, fungi, and maybe a sponge = one toxic mess

February 1, 2024

This month, I have increasingly noticed a disease that is presenting differently to the white syndrome that we have sadly become used to seeing. With this disease the coral goes grey-ish black and sometimes looks like it is almost dissolving or melting away. The result is a tragedy for the coral. I talk to coral health researcher Associate Professor Tracy Ainsworth about what is going on.

Acropora coral, Norfolk Island, 14_StairwayReef, 14 November 2021

The journey from coral reef to rubble

December 16, 2023

For two years, I have stopped by and photographed this beautiful Acropora coral formation in Emily Bay on Norfolk Island. In my database for this colony, I called the folder 14_StairwayReef; 14 for the geographic location on a map, followed by my romantic name for it. Today it is just so much rubble.

White syndrome on a *Hynophora pilosa* colony, Norfolk Island, 23 November 2023

The spatiotemporal dynamics of a coral disease

December 9, 2023

A pictorial study of the spread of white syndrome, over time, in a Hynophora pilosa colony on Norfolk Island. This beautiful coral colony is in the middle of the channel that runs between the contiguous Emily and Slaughter Bays, in Norfolk Island’s inshore coral reef lagoon. It’s one of my favourite places to pause and admire the scenery, when I’m out on my swim.

Brown? Yes. Boring? Definitely not!

October 11, 2023

Norfolk Island’s reef is one of Australia’s most southerly. It isn’t showy like the Great Barrier Reef, and I often hear the comment that it is a little dowdy – boring and brown. I’m here to tell you that it is anything but.

For this little photo essay I randomly selected just a handful of my many ‘boring, brown’ coral images to demonstrate my point. I barely scratched the surface of my photo library, yet I think you will agree, the diversity is just amazing!

Emily Bay, full moon rising, by Norfolk Island photographer Joelene Oliver

Full moon, low tides and Norfolk Island’s reef

June 2, 2023

With the low, low tides associated with a full moon, the bays on Norfolk Island are like a huge, calm swimming pool, giving us some great snorkelling opportunities. These low tides should also let us view the causeway, which will no doubt be exposed too. This post explores these opportunities as well as what the low tides mean for corals. Read more in this fact packed blog post.

Crustose coralline algae, Norfolk Island

Pretty in pink – the real coral reef builders

April 8, 2023

Animal, vegetable or mineral? What are crustose coralline algae? Are they important? What role do they play on our coral reefs?

There’s a lot to learn about coralline algae. For a humble lifeform, they really pack a punch.

A sea mat on the edge of the reef where the waves break, Norfolk Island

A tale of two corals

March 22, 2023

My March focus on Norfolk Island’s reef could almost go on for a full year, there’s so much to write about. But time dictates, so I will confine my efforts to one concentrated effort of randomness! Randomness, because there has been no plan to my posts. They have evolved as the month has progressed. Today I highlight two very different corals commonly seen, but not necessarily common.

Bubbles of oxygen forming on algae, photobombed by a tiny sea slug, sp, Elysia

Bubble and fizz – a quick guide to coral reef chemistry

March 21, 2023

March is often the warmest month on Norfolk Island’s reef, so it's no surprise that the algae are very busily photosynthesising and flourishing. Yesterday, I noticed that the algae had created a thick carpet of bubbles. As I swam my face was gently brushed by thousands of tingling bubbles, fizzing to the surface. It was quite a sight. And a rather weird sensation. So what is going on here?

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.

Low tide at Cemetery Bay, Norfolk Island

A rare gem – Cemetery Bay, Norfolk Island

March 12, 2023

No focus on Norfolk Island’s reef would be complete without a look at Cemetery Bay. It’s worth strolling along this beautiful beach at low tide. It is the island’s dog beach, so you will see plenty of locals out walking here, but better still is what you can see in the water – healthy corals happily growing right up to the beach.

Just some of our beautiful corals on Norfolk Island

A boring, brown reef?

March 11, 2023

People say that Norfolk Island’s reef is rather boring and brown when compared to the Great Barrier Reef. While it may not be as colourful, I think you have to agree that it is anything but boring brown!

From front to back: raccoon butterflyfish; blackback butterflyfish; three-striped butterflyfish Back right: Threadfin butterflyfish

No coral? No butterflyfish!

March 4, 2023

Butterflyfish are ‘corallivores’, that is, they feed mainly on coral polyps and the energy-rich mucous that these produce. Corals also make a great place for butterflyfish to shelter in and under. Without healthy corals, then fish like these will become more and more scarce.

Healthy montipora coral on Norfolk Island’s reef

The camera doesn’t lie – looking back over three years of observations

March 2, 2023

After three years of observations, I have a unique library of some 80,000 images recording life in Norfolk Island’s lagoons. So I thought it would be worth spending the month of March looking back to see what has changed in that time and what hasn’t. Each day I will feature a different image. For 1 March I have picked a simple brown coral – a plate coral from the genus montipora. Read on to see what is happening to our montipora now.

Be like Senator David Pocock - wear a rashie

Sunbeams and sunscreens

December 19, 2022

Did you know that sunscreen is highly toxic?

From 1 January 2021, Hawaii banned all sunscreens containing the reef-harming chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate, and with good reason. This radical action was taken because unsafe sunscreens can, and have, caused ecological ruination to coral reefs.

A flatworm, *Pseudobiceros sp*, dining on the tunicates

Sea squirts – friend or foe?

October 17, 2022

Emily Bay and Slaughter Bay have recently experienced a significant increase in the numbers of overgrowing tunicates. In this post I take a look at these critters – which, incredibly, are distant cousins to humans – and ask some questions about their presence and impact on our coral reef ecosystem.

Featured

Nov 20, 2024

Then and now – shifting baseline syndrome laid bare

Nov 20, 2024

Oct 20, 2024

Gorgeous, boring and brown!

Oct 20, 2024

Oct 14, 2024

Taking stock. Which way from here?

Oct 14, 2024

Sep 15, 2024

You may call this beauty 'Lobophyllia recta sensu Veron'

Sep 15, 2024

Sep 7, 2024

'Barometers of life' – National Threatened Species Day

Sep 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?

Sep 7, 2024

Aug 9, 2024

Groundhog Day in Emily Bay

Aug 9, 2024

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.

Aug 9, 2024

Jul 23, 2024

Ageing colourfully. This guy!

Jul 23, 2024

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 23, 2024

Jul 10, 2024

While you were sleeping ...

Jul 10, 2024

Jul 7, 2024

Gender transitioning in the birdnose wrasse

Jul 7, 2024

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.

Jul 7, 2024

May 27, 2024

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

May 27, 2024

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.

May 27, 2024

Out on A Swim

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