The flat battery

Last weekend there was no time for outdoor fun, as Lisa and I spent every daylight hour of both days working in the garden.  While there was no playtime on rock or in the water, we did however get a workout.  There was still more to be done in the garden this weekend, but not as much so I snuck out for a snorkel early Saturday morning.  It was sunny above our house but the clouds were quickly moving in from the east, as was the wind resulting in poor light and choppy conditions.  Undeterred I went in, and almost immediately the battery on my camera died:

Sunday morning I decided to head back out, this time the blue sky extended across the whole sky and there was hardly any wind.  Due to having a morning full of “other things to do” I went out earlier than usual and was in the water by 7am.  Yesterday’s dip had also been quite early and I found squid, heaps of fish including two new fish for me (a Magpie Morwong and Butterflyfish), and a very strange spikey alien sea cucumber.  I was quietly hoping that another early morning would allow me the chance to have more new finds:

The visibility was so much better but it took a while before I found any fish, in fact there had been far more life in the gloomy, cloudy conditions than today’s calm and clear conditions.  Of course the Banded Sweeps were quick to appear, as were the bait fish.  There also seemed to be loads of Western Pomfrey, one of the fish that I hadn’t seen the day before.  I was only one bay away from yesterday’s location but the place look very different in formations, weeds and the fish species I was spotting:

I kept an eye on the sandy beds for any tell-tale signs of things to find.  Not much stood out, the weaving lines gave away the nights movements of the sea snail that lives in the Bell Clapper shell.  This one was left stranded in the open, I’ve found theses before with hermit crabs inside them.  Watching as they drag their home the sandy beds looking for juicy morsels to eat.  The snail’s scientific name is Campanile symbolicum, and it is said to be a living fossil, and the only surviving species of Campaniidae:

The tide heights have risen a bit since a few weeks back and as such some of the previously exposed platforms that were a hundred of so meter from shore, were just covered over.  It was possible to caterpillar yourself across them, but for the most part I went round the edges peering at the more exposed surfaces looking for anything unusual.  It was on this terrain that I found the freaky sea cucumber.  Today I was not so lucky, but this small shoal of what I think are juvenile Silver Drummers came up to me and danced right in front of me for ages:

I continued my journey spotting fish here and there but focusing mostly on the exposed limestone reef sides which were littered with all sorts of sponges, weeds, fans and squirts.  Several of them looked very much like fungi, which has in the past been one of the land based flora that I have been known to take copious images of before.  There were two today that really reminded me of the fungi I have found on fallen trees, this orange one being one.  Alas try as I might I have not been able to identify them:

It seems that every time I head out past the point I find a place with a different feel to it.  This time I came across this lush green underwater paddock.  It may be seedlings from the more common weed that we have round the place, the stuff in which I have managed to lose track of so many creatures like the recent cuttlefish.  There is no reason for having this image in here other than it striking me as looking very different, and in a way out of place with all the towers of kelp around it:

As I started to head back to shore I came across what looked like a tangled hair, the sort of thing that makes swimming in a pool so unpleasant!  I watched it for a while and then moved the water near it with a single pass of my hand.  It uncurled and the whole length started to move about, but in a way that was not in sync with the movement of the swell.  I’m not going to even try and guess what it was but there definitely seemed to be a purpose to how it moved, slowly making its way downwards:

Before I got back to shore I had one more find, a small fish.  Despite being very well camouflaged in the green kelp, I knew this little triggerfish would also be very quick to hide once I got to close.  I have come across them before but have never been lucky enough to take a snap of one.  Being just 5cm long tops and with a very distinctive pattern I’ve yet to name it.  While triggerfish can be found in many sizes and some quite small it is also possible that this one is a juvenile:

Both morning swims were very worthwhile, as there is always something new to see.  But it was time to pack up and head back to get on with more chores round the garden.  The image below gives you an idea of how far down the beach I head, with the houses Of Peppy Beach just visible in the distance.  Too far to head back to get a fully charged camera battery, so from now on I will have to remember to take a spare battery with me, just in case: