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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
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    • Everything Else
    • Kingston, Norfolk Island
    • Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs and Flatworms
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    • 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.

White-speckled sea hare, Aplysia argus, in Emily Bay, Norfolk Island

Sea hares – our submarine shreks

February 19, 2023

Sea hares, little submarine shreks that lumber their way slowly around intertidal zone are fascinating, and quite common, although most people won’t have heard of them. Their appetite for algae makes these a really useful species to have in our bays, along with parrotfish, sea cucumbers and sea urchins. And it is the algae that dictates their colouring.

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In Sea hares Tags sea hares, Norfolk Island
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Stylocheilus striatus – commonly called the lined sea hare, blue ring sea hare or furry sea hare

Furry sea hares as eco-warriors

December 12, 2021

Stylocheilus striatus – commonly called the lined sea hare, blue ring sea hare or furry sea hare – have appeared in numbers at one end of the shallows of Emily Bay. These little sea hares are great to have around as they consume the toxic blue-green alga that fish and other herbivores don’t or can’t eat or tolerate.

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Tags sea hares, eco-warriors, ecosystem, algae, nutrients, pollution, water quality, Emily Bay
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A school of sand mullet, Myxus elongatus

Report released into the health of Norfolk Island's reef

September 7, 2021

This week’s observations while out on a swim, included some very active and inquisitive green moon wrasse. One, in particular, followed me for a good half an hour as I made my way around the reef off the Salt House. Find out more about what was happening beneath the waves on Norfolk Island this week.

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Tags sea hares, green moon wrasse, sand mullet, school of fish, Emily Bay, water quality, pollution, Sydney Institute of Marine Science
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Slaughter Bay from Point Hunter, Lone Pine, low tide 27 June 2021

Mid-winter fabulousness

June 29, 2021

There’s been plenty going on under the waves here on Norfolk island, while above the waves we’ve just had the most fabulous mid-winter weather. With a full moon on 24 June, we experienced some wonderful low, low tides. Did you know that peak low tides always lag the full moon (and new moon) by a day or so?

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Tags goatfish, snubnosed dart, Emily Bay, Norfolk Island, weather, nudibranch, sea hares
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Featured
The funky seventies sea slug – Halgerda willeyi
Oct 15, 2025
The funky seventies sea slug – Halgerda willeyi
Oct 15, 2025

If ever a sea slug was channeling the 1970s, it’s Halgerda willeyi. With its groovy orange lines and chocolate-brown bumps, it looks straight out of a vintage lounge suite – the kind with shag pile carpet and bold floral cushions. Proof that nature was nailing retro design long before humans caught on.

Oct 15, 2025
Haddon's barometer
Oct 5, 2025
Haddon's barometer
Oct 5, 2025

This Haddon’s anemone has been quietly living in the middle of Norfolk Island’s Emily Bay for years, bleaching and recovering with the seasons. Like corals, sea anemones host microscopic algae that provide most of their food. When stressed by heat or rainfall changes, they lose colour – and tell a story about seasonal changes to the weather.

Oct 5, 2025
Honoured to be featured
Sep 30, 2025
Honoured to be featured
Sep 30, 2025

I left school in the UK nearly 50 years ago, so it was a pleasant surprise to be invited to share some images and take part in an interview for an article about my work, to be published in the annual glossy magazine the school now produces. Here is the end product.

Sep 30, 2025
Celebrating Biodiversity Month on Norfolk Island
Sep 7, 2025
Celebrating Biodiversity Month on Norfolk Island
Sep 7, 2025

September is Biodiversity Month – the perfect time to celebrate the astonishing variety of life on Norfolk Island’s reef. From new fish sightings to coral mosaics, every observation is a reminder of how much there is still to learn and protect.

Read more about why biodiversity matters, globally and right here in our lagoon.

Sep 7, 2025
The fate of a coral colony when it succumbs to white syndrome – four years on
Aug 24, 2025
The fate of a coral colony when it succumbs to white syndrome – four years on
Aug 24, 2025

I’ve tracked one plating Acropora coral from 2021 to 2025. In just a few weeks, white syndrome wiped it out. Nearly four years years on, it’s still smothered in algae and sea squirts, with only the tiniest hint of new growth. It’s a stark reminder: without tackling the root cause, we’re just watching the same sad story repeat itself.

Aug 24, 2025
The Candy-Striped Cleaner Keeping the Reef Healthy
Aug 17, 2025
The Candy-Striped Cleaner Keeping the Reef Healthy
Aug 17, 2025

Candy-cane stripes, long white feelers, and a reef spa on offer – the banded coral shrimp waves its antennae to advertise cleaning services to passing fish.

Aug 17, 2025
Biomimicry: How a Boxfish Caught Mercedes Benz’s Eye
Aug 10, 2025
Biomimicry: How a Boxfish Caught Mercedes Benz’s Eye
Aug 10, 2025

Meet Mr Lemonhead – our lagoon’s teeny yellow boxfish with a big design legacy. He inspired a Mercedes Benz concept car, proving how nature is full of surprises. And he shares the lagoon with other critters whose tricks have also shaped real-world inventions.

Aug 10, 2025
Patchwork Corals: How Colonies Fuse to Form Living Mosaics
Aug 3, 2025
Patchwork Corals: How Colonies Fuse to Form Living Mosaics
Aug 3, 2025

Some corals wear more than one colour for a reason. When Paragoniastrea australensis colonies fuse early in life, they form living mosaics. A beautiful reminder of coral cooperation on Norfolk Island’s reef.

Aug 3, 2025
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

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