This week there has been some amazing, settled winter weather, the kind that makes Norfolk Island just sparkle and sing. And underwater was no different. Low, low tides associated with a new moon and quite good visibility have meant that my swims have been a delight.

This week, I was fortunate enough to see the male snubnose dart, Trachinotus blochii, cruising with his two female companions off the Salt House with a school of mullet. I am hoping this bodes well for some bubba darts in the coming summer season!

Other highlights included the bluespine unicornfish, Naso unicornis, posing for me in the early morning light, as only these fish can, before charging at me in a game of ‘call my bluff’. These guys are such show ponies! You can read about how unicornfish are so important to the health of a reef in an earlier blog post.

I also came nose to nose with our old resident female southern eagle ray, Myliobatis tenuicaudatus, with her distinctive stumpy tail, along with a brand new juvenile that I haven’t seen before in the shallows of Emily Bay. I photographed a pair courting inside Emily Bay back in December 2020. I wonder if this juvenile is the result (photos below).

But the one sighting that excited me beyond anything else was a teeny tiny juvenile blacktip morwong, Cheilodactylus francisi, on the Lone Pine side of the bay. This little fish, barely 1.5 to 2 cm in length, seemed unconcerned as I hovered over it trying to get a decent photo. I have only seen one of this species of fish in the bay, an adult, that lives in a very defined area, so it was a real treat to see what I have to assume is one of its progeny.

I found a new species (to me) of sea slug in the bay as well, which is always exciting (photo above right), Atagema spongiosa.

And each time I was out I saw both resident green sea turtles snoozing in the channel, a couple of times within just a few metres of each other. They seem happy to take life in the slow lane for the time being and don’t swim off when I pause to observe them.

Today the weather has turned, with plenty of rain and blustery winds – more like the weather you would normally associate with winter.

That’s a wrap.