More reports to add to a long catalogue of reports were delivered to the general public over the last few days on Norfolk Island’s water quality and reef health. Reassuringly, they all say the same thing. Our poor water quality is affecting the health of our reef. So the science must be good! So when are we going to do something about it?
Read MoreCombine bacteria, fungi, and maybe a sponge = one toxic mess
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.
Read MoreA year in review – 2023 on Norfolk Island's reef
Sadly, the year didn’t bring any obvious improvements to Norfolk Island's reef in terms of reductions in incidences of coral disease, or runaway algal growth. And while some fish seem to have departed the scene, another species has re-established its home. Here’s a rundown of what I've been doing during the last four years of observations, and what I've seen happening on our reef in 2023.
Read MoreFor the sake of our grandchildren
What will my grandson see when he is old enough to snorkel on Norfolk Island’s reef? Will there be anything left as I know it? Or will he think it is all great because of that hoary old phenomenon called ‘shifting baseline syndrome’? This record of all my photos and observations will give him some idea of what we had in our bays in the 2020s.
Read MoreDoris – just one turtle?
Many of the turtles that live in Norfolk Island’s coral-reef lagoons are juveniles. In other words, they are the future of their species, and an important piece in the genetic jigsaw. Yet they seem to fall through the cracks when it comes to being protected by the EPBC Act.
Read MoreA tale of two corals
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.
Read MoreBubble and fizz – a quick guide to coral reef chemistry
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?
Read MoreTiptoeing through the government silos
In the 1960s we had reports voicing concerns around water quality, but nothing was done. When the Commonwealth of Australia’s EPBC Act came into force in 1999, nothing was done. Surely it is high time the issues of failing and inadequate infrastructure, deficient Norfolk Island laws and unsatisfactory protections were fixed once and for all?
Read MorePhase shifts and biodiversity
One species that is doing remarkably well on Norfolk Island’s reef as it inexorably transitions from coral-dominated to algal-dominated is the banded scalyfin, Parma polylepis, which is unsurprising as their main food source is algae. The downside is they harass and bully all the other species that come anywhere near their territory, to the detriment of our biodiversity. Find out more here.
Read MoreYou don’t always know what you’ve got – ’til it’s gone
On Norfolk Island, Australian Marine Parks recently issued a no-take area in our coral reef lagoon habitats. My hope is that with these bans in place, in addition to curbing runaway algal growth, there will be an improvement across the reef ecosystem in a number of different species, with subsequent knock effects for others, including for our molluscs, wrasse and octopus species.
Read MoreThe awesome, giant, black-mouthed tun snail
When I took my first photographs of the live black-mouthed tun snail (Tonna melanostoma) and posted them on iNaturalist, I had no idea that there were no other – as in none, zip, nada – images of it in the public domain; just one of a broken shell that is housed in the Auckland Museum. This is my featured image for 3 March.
Read MoreWhere have all the bait fish gone?
For 2 March I've chosen to feature a ball of bait fish photographed in September 2020. There is something awe-insipring about being encircled by a huge seething mass of tiny fish all moving in unison. It takes your breath away. The question is, where have these bait balls gone?
Read MoreThe camera doesn’t lie – looking back over three years of observations
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.
Read MoreDoris – it takes a village
This morning marked the end of a four-month journey for Doris the green sea turtle. From a sick, emaciated turtle with lesions across her shell, and covered with an unhealthy growth of algae, she has been transformed to glossy beautiful health. Hannah slid Doris over the side of the boat and back into the bosom of the ocean, her home. We’ll miss her, but as she swam away, our hearts sang, too. She’s back where she should be.
Read MoreCome on in. The water's fine ...
As Costa Georgiadis says, nature tells the truth, and we must only look at our reef on Norfolk Island to know its truth. We, as custodians, have not been caring enough for it and now that carelessness is coming home to roost.
Read MoreFurry sea hares as eco-warriors
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.
Read MoreNuptial colouration in blennies
Warmer water and some behavioural changes: some fish are getting their nuptial colours on, while others have started incubating eggs in their mouth. It is all happening ‘out on a swim’. Catch up on the last week in Norfolk Island’s lagoons here.
Read MoreReport released into the health of Norfolk Island's reef
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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