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Norfolk Island's Reef

Discover a fragile paradise – Norfolk Island's beaches, lagoons and coral reef
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    • Kingston, Norfolk Island
    • Underwater
    • Reef Fish
    • Eels
    • Corals
    • Sea Anemones
    • Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs and Flatworms
    • Octopuses
    • Sea Urchins
    • Sea Stars
    • Turtles
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  • Out on a swim - blog
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Out on A Swim

My Out on A Swim blog is rated in the Top 20 Coral Reef Blogs in the world.

It serves as a record of what has caught my eye when ‘out on a swim’ in the lagoons of Norfolk Island, as well as providing some short stories about the characters under the waves.

The surf breaking over Norfolk Island’s reef, Slaughter Bay

The Water Rats – the Southern Hemisphere's oldest surf lifesaving club?

November 19, 2023

Can Norfolk Island claim the Southern Hemisphere’s oldest surf lifesaving club? Read on to find out more!

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In History Tags surf, Kingston, World Heritage Area, Convicts
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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
Ageing colourfully. This guy!
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
While you were sleeping ...
Jul 10, 2024
While you were sleeping ...
Jul 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.

Jul 10, 2024
Gender transitioning in the birdnose wrasse
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
One hundred year-old coral gone in less than one hundred days
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
Fish stocktake – the mysteries, the surprises and the wins
Apr 22, 2024
Fish stocktake – the mysteries, the surprises and the wins
Apr 22, 2024

In my ‘Year in review for 2023 on Norfolk Island’s reef’, published in December 2023, I made a few observations about the apparent disappearance of some fish species from Norfolk Island’s lagoons. I thought I would revisit these, principally because since December there has been so much additional fish activity here, with some exciting population increases and a few new species turning up.

Apr 22, 2024

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