Last weekend as we came back to shore on the boat we crossed over what looked to be a good reef not too far from the beach. So the next morning I decided to head out there to see what I could see. This is the view I get before I brave the waters, you can see dark and light patches but it is hard to know where the reef will be, as the dark can also be a weed bank:
The first bit of reef I came across was very different to my usual spot where I snorkel. The water was a bit deeper and the reef was in the form of bommies. They look a bit like towers or mounds that poked above the sea bed, with deeper open water around them. It give quiet an eerie feeling as you can’t tell what may be lurking in the deeper areas:
This time the water was really clear and the visibility was such that I was prepared to brave it and keep going. With these types of reef the weed and coral growing up the sides is pretty cool and gives the sea bed a whole new dimension. The usual banded sweeps were quick to spy me and start drifting along with me, and if you look carefully you’ll see a small shoal of fish in the bottom left corner:
My knowledge of fish identification has really been tested lately, and despite having taken images it is often still really hard to be sure. I think the ones above were some type of cardinal fish. With the clear waters I braved going out further over the next open patch to get to another reef. As I approached it there was an obvious mass of fish. These ones I recognised immediately as gobble guts, in quantities I have never seen before:
It was amazing slowly drifting through these huge shoals of fish as they slowly parted to allow me through, without any sense of urgency or fear of my presence. Despite having seen these fish heaps of times I spent ages going backward and forward through them. Eventually I decided to move on and found another area where I was followed by a growing band of merry banded sweeps. It seemed that in this area the fish stuck together in great numbers, unlikely the small shoals I normally encounter:
As I carried on searching the area another sizable shoal came by. As they shifted direction the sun would reflect of them slightly differently resulting in a range of striking colours. Despite trawling through both of our 400 plus page fish books numerous times I am at a loss as to what these fish are, so if anyone out there has any idea I’d be keen to hear:
I was getting cool now and decided it was time to head in when another bommie caught my eye and this one was shrouded with western pomfred. Despite getting pretty cold I simply had to hoover about and again was able to drift through the shoal without them darting off. While this is the best image to show what they look like, it doesn’t show the mass of fish that ranged in size from a few to ten centimetres is length, so relatively young still:
I wandered back along the beach and waters resembling a milk pond. I was however too cold to be tempted back out, but I did sit in the water watching these three crested terns enjoying the warm sun, atop a bit of limestone reef sticking out with. Eventually I headed off as I had to pick Elseya up from work:
We are now enjoying a long weekend due to a public holiday on Monday and Friday being been a pupil free day, so I was home with Elseya. Yesterday morning Elseya and I had things on until late morning, and usually by then the wind would have picked up and the waters would start to get choppy. On this day however it looked like I was going to be in luck and risked going in despite the late start:
With the cloud cover the water was darker and murkier than normal, so visibility was pretty naff. I was however glad I had gone in as when I hit the reef a shoal of what I think were anchovy literally engulfed me. Bang went my theory that I didn’t see too many big shoals at my usual patch. Thousands and thousands of these guys were all around me. Whenever I duck dived down they would dart this way and that and leave me in a vacuum surrounded by fish:
I have to admit that I was hoping the big shoal would attract the attention of dolphins. It was not to be and after frantically following the cloud of sliver sprinters around for quite a while I let them slowly disappear in into the murkiness. As I passed over a small sandy clearing amongst the weed I spied what I thought was a large bodied sea star, but it was better. This is only the second tube anemone I have found. Luckily a break in the cloud occurred as I went up and down to get a closer look. This allowed me to get a few great images, which almost look like paintings:
The wind had picked up and the water was getting more and more choppy, and swimming against the current was becoming hard work. So I bailed. As I left the waters and looked back a reasonable sized pod of dolphins drifted by in exactly the same place I had just been, oh well maybe next time. This morning I went back out at my normal time of early morning. Lisa had gone to Pilates and Elseya was at work, so I took advantage of the blue sky and calm conditions:
As soon as I put my head under water a school of southern garfish was not far away. These guys mostly swim just below the surface and are very, very skittish. Whenever I have started to move towards them before they sprint away and I’ve even seen them jump out of the water to get away. As such I didn’t bother trying to following them but bobbed about waiting to see what they would do:
I was very lucky and they got really close, allowing me plenty of time to have a great look at them. This one is almost touching the surface of the water and you can see the reflection above it. While we have never done much fishing, this is the only fish that Elseya has caught off Peppy Beach. She caught one by the tail while reeling her line back in:
I moved out just a bit before I saw another shoal of fish, small white fish I can’t identify. I did one duck dive to get a closer look but found myself face to face with a heap of stingers. Check for the four darker tentacles behind each stinger below. The bottom was littered with stingers and there was no way I was going to hang about with them. So I left the fish (and stingers) alone and moved on:
There seemed to be a fair bit of activity this morning with lots of fish out and about. This is not the best image I have ever taken but I included it as I really like the brownfields wrasse. These slender green fish with a white underbelly (bottom left) have a striking colouration and always look amazing. Although the effect is a little lost with the weed behind them. The fish in the top right is a southern goatfish, a bottom feeder and another species that is quite skittish:
This is a humpback boxfish and is the first one I have seen. It is a fully mature male at 20cm long. Compared to most of the fish I get to see this one looked like a giant, and didn’t seem too afraid of me so I followed it for a while. Eventually I duck dived down and it didn’t swim off straight away allowing me to get this image. You can’t tell from this picture but the eye protrudes a fair way and from the side looks to be in a bubble, this made the fish look a tad comical and goofy:
I also found the familiar tell-tale sign of a crayfish, two long antenna poking out from under a rock ledge. I haven’t seen too many of these guys this year (other than those Brian and Esky caught last weekend), so took a quick image before it darted deep into its hiding hole. I thought I would include the image despite the murky water and poor image quality, in the hope that next time I head out I’ll come across a mob of them:
Just for a change from fish I also took a few images of some very colourful ascidians, or sea squirts. It’s been a while since I have included any of these. They are pretty amazing and amongst the more drab green and grey background they really stand out. They have both a mouth and an anus and when undisturbed a continuous flow of water is passed through filtering out particles. When they detect your presence both orifices close up:
I’ve noticed in the last few weeks that the water seems to be cooling down and my three quarters of an hour of getting lost in this underwater haven, is now more like half an hour. As I headed back to shore I was again greeted by a big shoal of the little white fish I first saw. So I’ve included one last image, but it is not the best one I took. I liked this due to the shaw’s cowfish that is lazily swimming away from me:
Despite the water definitely cooling down I will still get out again this year, and with all the treasures I’ve been lucky to see over the last few trips I wonder what I’ll see next…
Sandbagged 