The sea-wolves of Emily Bay

January 21, 2021

Attracted by the easy pickings, I then watched as the silver trevally – Pseudocaranx sp 'dentex' – arrived. Like a sleek pack of wolves they swept around, in and out of the drum scooping up whatever they could. The fry shrank back, huddling together, trying to stay out of the maelstrom and away from so many hungry mouths.

Underwater wars! Aatuti versus the elegant wrasse

January 20, 2021

The banded scalyfin damselfish are keen underwater gardeners who don't take kindly to their carefully tended and guarded patches being raided by schools of elegant wrasse.

Goniopora norfolkensis – an uncommon coral

December 30, 2020

A reasonably common coral here is this beautiful brown, but sometimes creamy or caramel coloured fronded species called Goniopora norfolkensis..

Halfmoon grouper - Epinephelus rivulatus

Close encounter with a halfmoon grouper

December 18, 2020

A close encounter with a halfmoon grouper causes an amazing transformation from mottled red to mustard yellow.

Norfolk Island blenny, Parablennius serratolineatus

Cute as a button, the Norfolk Island blenny

December 13, 2020

The Norfolk Island blenny is a teeny little shy guy, who hangs out quite a bit at one end of Slaughter Bay and also in Cemetery. Extremely localised, they are endemic to Norfolk Island.

Juvenile Norfolk cardinalfish, Ostorhinchus norfolcensis, under the raft, Emily Bay

Mouth-brooding Norfolk cardinalfish

December 4, 2020

Norfolk cardinalfish are called big eyes on Norfolk Island, and it is easy to see why! These guys are mouth brooders, as in the male nurtures the eggs in his mouth.

The elite fleet

December 3, 2020

Like fragile jewels floating on the ocean currents, the common violet snail feeds on a fellow compatriots in the pleustal zone just beneath the ocean’s surface, the bluebottle. We should be grateful, because they are doing us a service by chomping on those stingers!

Apr 29, 2025

The Governance–Government Vacuum: Norfolk Island’s Forgotten Ecology

A personal reflection on Norfolk Island’s coral reef environment, political denial, and what John Wyndham’s The Kraken Wakes can still teach us about slow-moving disasters — and why this election matters more than ever.

Feb 20, 2025

Cute as buttons – Astrea curta

Astrea curta corals are ‘small, moderately plocoid [flattened], distinct, and almost circular’ . Normally grey-green in colour, you can see from the images here, ours are often beautiful rich gold, although they do vary. They have a neat growth habit and button-like corallites, which can grow in columns, spherically or flattened. Large colonies of these can form gorgeous undulating bumps.

Jan 26, 2025

From 'Watch' to 'Warning'

Last week, the chance of coral bleaching in Norfolk Island’s inshore lagoons was raised from ‘Watch’ to ‘Warning’ and will more than likely rise to Alert levels one and two in coming weeks. So why do I worry about water quality all the time when bleaching seems inevitable these days and so the reef is probably doomed anyway? Read on to find out.

Jan 4, 2025

From little things – watching them grow

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.

Dec 27, 2024

A year in review – 2024 on Norfolk Island’s Reef

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 10, 2024

A smooth and slippery echidna

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 1, 2024

Feisty zingers! Focus on the 'brain' coral, Paragoniastrea spp.

If corals had characters, then the Paragoniastrea spp. would be described as feisty, or even downright aggressive when it comes to asserting itself over its neighbours. They are also rather colourful.

Nov 20, 2024

Then and now – shifting baseline syndrome laid bare

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.

Oct 20, 2024

Gorgeous, boring and brown!

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 14, 2024

Taking stock. Which way from here?

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.’

Out on A Swim

Latest Posts