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Norfolk Island's Reef

Discover a fragile paradise – Norfolk Island's beaches, lagoons and coral reef
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    • Algae
    • Corals
    • Everything Else
    • Eels
    • Kingston, Norfolk Island
    • Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs and Flatworms
    • Octopuses
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    • Reef Fish
    • Sharks
    • Sea Anemones
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  • 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 page shows the most recent blog posts. For the complete catalogue, visit the ‘Out on a swim index’ page.

This blog is rated in the Top 20 Coral Reef Blogs in the world.

Susan's flatworm, Pseudoceros susanae, Norfolk Island

Susan's flatworm and the wisdom of sharing knowledge

January 22, 2024

Sharing knowledge is a fundamental aspect of human interaction that enriches both the giver and the receiver. Sharing and documenting knowledge ensures that valuable information and experiences are not lost but are instead preserved for future generations. So that is why I share.

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Tags Knowledge, sharing, marine enviroment, philosophy, Facebook, hacker, hacked, flatworms
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Cemetery Bay, Norfolk Island, at low tide

Facebook fiasco – and the fishes

January 21, 2024

Readers of this website may be familiar with my Facebook page, Norfolk Island Time, on which I cross post my blog posts about Norfolk Island's marine life. I can no longer gain access to that page. It’s been taken over by a random person hell bent on getting a free lunch. But worse is that this particular scam has been doing the rounds for years while Facebook offers little assistance. We should be angry.

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Tags Facebook, Scam, PayPal, Identity theft, hacker, hacked
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Featured
Reef relief
Jul 28, 2025
Reef relief
Jul 28, 2025

Today, 28 July, is World Nature Conservation Day. After the dry 2024, Norfolk Island’s reef is looking healthier – a brief reprieve as less water - laden with nutrients - flowed into the lagoon. These photos show what’s possible. It’s a reminder that recovery is within reach – though renewed runoff could quickly undo the gains.

Jul 28, 2025
Emily Bay's big 'brain' coral
Jul 20, 2025
Emily Bay's big 'brain' coral
Jul 20, 2025

In Emily Bay, Norfolk Island, a single coral bommie – Paragoniastrea australensis – has stood for decades as a micro-reef, harbouring diverse marine life and local memories. Once photographed in 1988 and still thriving today, it remains a keystone of reef biodiversity and a living link between past and present.

Jul 20, 2025
Biodiversity matters
Jul 14, 2025
Biodiversity matters
Jul 14, 2025

Over five and a half years of snorkelling Norfolk’s lagoon, we’ve documented 23 fish species not previously recorded in this area. Some are local ghosts, others climate migrants. These observations help us understand and protect what makes our reef so special.

Jul 14, 2025
Poop power
Jun 17, 2025
Poop power
Jun 17, 2025

Not all poop on a reef is bad poop. In fact some kinds of poop can be a reef’s most important invisible engine. Fish poop, bird poop – even poop that gets eaten again by other fish – all of it keeps the ecosystem ticking over in a way that’s nothing short of extraordinary.

Jun 17, 2025
Glimpses of recovery: what the reef could be if we let it
Jun 13, 2025
Glimpses of recovery: what the reef could be if we let it
Jun 13, 2025

Day 6 of this photo series from Norfolk Island coincides with the final day of the UN Ocean Conference in Nice. After a week of documenting decline, today’s post offers a different view – what reef recovery can look like when conditions improve. Drought in 2024 gave the reef a break, and the results were unmistakable: healthier corals, lower disease, and more fish. This is what’s possible if we act.

Jun 13, 2025
Warning signs: quiet and unnoticed collapse of two coral colonies
Jun 12, 2025
Warning signs: quiet and unnoticed collapse of two coral colonies
Jun 12, 2025

Day 5 of my blog series for the UN Ocean Conference: two long-lived coral colonies in Norfolk’s lagoon died quietly from disease. No drama – just slow collapse and overgrowth by algae. A reminder that not all reef losses are loud, but they are happening.

Jun 12, 2025
Warning signs:  what Norfolk Island’s reef is telling us
Jun 11, 2025
Warning signs: what Norfolk Island’s reef is telling us
Jun 11, 2025

Day 4 of a week-long photo series from Norfolk Island, shared during the UN Ocean Conference in Nice. Today’s post spotlights a Hydnophora pilosa colony where white syndrome appeared suddenly and spread quickly, taking out around a quarter of the coral. In the months that followed, algae quietly filled the gap – a subtle but telling shift from coral to algae that’s happening across the reef.

Jun 11, 2025
Warning signs: coral disease takes hold
Jun 10, 2025
Warning signs: coral disease takes hold
Jun 10, 2025

In Day 3 of this blog post series, published while leaders gather at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, we see Norfolk Island’s coral reef lagoon quietly delivering a stark warning: recurrent land-based pollution, coral disease, and delayed decisions are dismantling this ecosystem in real time.

Jun 10, 2025
Warning signs: coral growth anomalies – the slow cancers of the reef
Jun 9, 2025
Warning signs: coral growth anomalies – the slow cancers of the reef
Jun 9, 2025

Day 2’s post coinciding with the UN Ocean Conference looks at coral growth anomalies – sometimes called coral ‘cancers’. These slow-moving diseases quietly weaken coral colonies, making them far more vulnerable to storm damage and algal takeover. On Norfolk Island’s reef, I’ve watched this exact process play out over several years. This is how chronic stress silently dismantles coral ecosystems.

Jun 9, 2025
Warning signs: shifting baselines on Norfolk Island’s reef
Jun 8, 2025
Warning signs: shifting baselines on Norfolk Island’s reef
Jun 8, 2025

Today is World Ocean Day — a timely moment to launch my week-long blog series on Norfolk Island’s reef. Each day this week, I’ll be sharing photo essays that document the slow but steady pressures reshaping this fragile reef. Today: how shifting baselines make us blind to what we’ve already lost.

Jun 8, 2025

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