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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
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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.

From little things – watching them grow

January 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.

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In Fish Tags fish, fish species, Blackeye thicklip, iNaturalist, Norfolk Island, coral reef
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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!

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In Biodiversity Tags Citizen science, iNaturalist, observations, Atlas of Living Australia, Australian Museum, biodiversity, endemic species, Environment, environmental protections, Environmental protection
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Featured
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 Australensis
Dec 1, 2024
Feisty zingers! Focus on the 'brain' coral, Paragoniastrea Australensis
Dec 1, 2024

If corals had characters, then the Paragoniastrea australensis 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
'Barometers of life' – National Threatened Species Day
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
Groundhog Day in Emily Bay
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

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