Playing hide and seek

Well I didn’t manage a snorkel every workday this week, and in truth I’m not sure why.  The winds were predicted to be up so I was sceptical about my chances.  However, from early on each morning before it was light I listened out to get an idea of what the winds were actual up to and most days it was calm.  That along with the chance to take advantage of working from home and where we live enabled me get out four days out of five, the first one I have already written up a post for.  And as you might imagine with three dips to report on in this post it will be a bit longer than usual.  Even more so as I also reflect on past finds and report back on a few identifications I have since obtained:

On Tuesday I had to schedule the snorkel around some meetings, and this resulted in heading down a little later in the morning.  The forecast had indicated it would work well, but when we got down there things had picked up and the surface was starting to roll.  Today however Lisa was intending to come into the water with me, so we went in anyway.  No wetsuits were donned today, nor for any of my swims this week.  This was in part intentional so I wouldn’t stay out too long and chew up too much of the working day.  Working from home save me an hour of travel each day, but I still need to do my hours and I’m not one for working into the evenings:

While not a new find this image of a Rock Lobster is probably one of the clearest I have taken to date.  It hadn’t picked the best place to be and struggled to get much further away from my lens allowing me a bit more time to focus the camera, and also being in more light than when I have attempted to snap them deeper inside their hidey holes.  The mosaic patterning is stunning, resembling a glass stained window with precisely placed small segments of colour looking like jewels. The best part is that being out in the open just a bit meant that Lisa got to see it from her vantage point on the surface, she’s not one for duck diving so this was the first one she has seen underwater:

One of the most common fish see is the Orange Spotted Wrasse, a fish that will hide in the weed and stick it’s head out observing where I am and what my intended actions maybe.  Acting on my actions as soon as I make a move.  Today I spotted what I felt to be a different wrasse and as I attempted to catch it on camera it acted in very much the same way making use of the weed, popping it’s head out and darting away when I got to close only to hide a bit further away and again watch me.  Checking my fish book as I type away I have discovered that it is the male Orange Spotted Wrasse, whereas the ones I see more commonly are the female of this fish. 

So on the topic of identifying fish, through QuestaGame it seems that the Wobbegong I spotted and reported in my post called Trying to Focus was not the spotted variety but the western variety.  These two look very similar but the spotted variation has a distinctive triangle pattern between the eyes on top of the head.  Looking back at the images it is now obvious that it doesn’t.  Despite my persistent research to attempt to identify the following urchin I finally had to resort to my App.  I’ve seen a few of these urchins and thought they were pencil urchins, due to the thickness of the spines.  What has thrown me is the textured nature of the spines and what looked like suckers on the ends.  I was however close, and it is actually an Impressive Pencil Urchin:

Lisa got cold pretty quickly during our swim and that along with the rolling water, which had made her feel a little sea sick, resulted in her going in before me.  I didn’t stay out all that much longer as what with the later start the swell was picking up and work was calling me, with the next meeting booked in precisely one hour after I had walked out of the house.  Making my way back in I scoured the ocean floor for one more find worth checking out, and while I see so many Shaw Cowfish this female was in amongst the more soft looking weed and made for a nice image:

The water had certainly roughened up and it usually when I get to the shore I realise how much.  This is where I found Lisa soaking, up a few rays.  That reminds me that we had seen a ray as soon as we had gone out.  The little Stingaree that I had seen in my previous snorkel was again in the shallows, and it was once more hiding in all the weed that had become detached during less calm conditions and was now collecting on the sandy area near the beach.  I had called it a Bight Stingaree in my post having relied on my books, but checking it out in more detail before posting it on QuestaGame I changed my mind:

This time I guessed correctly that it was a Striped Stingaree, the marking were just that little bit different.  I also discovered the Striped Stingaree is endemic to the shallow waters off the South West of Western Australia, so this one really is at home at our local beach.  I can’t recall now why but Wednesday came and went and I didn’t get out for a swim.  When Thursday arrived it was a different story and this time I head out before eight to be greeted to beautifully calm conditions and an empty beach.  Obeying the rules of the lock down I still however wore my mask walking to and from the spot I go into the water.  Almost immediately I thought I had come across that little Striped Stingaree for a third time:

Despite being almost identical in size if you look back at the images of the previous post, No Complaints, you will notice a few differences.  I’ll mention the colouration first, this one was far darker and didn’t have the same subtle patterning of the previous stingaree.  But more obvious was the shape of the tail, this one was pointed at the end and that was a clear indication to me that this was not a stingaree but a stingray.  My guess was a Black Stingray, and a juvenile at that as they can reach up to 4m long.  I’ve only ever seen the adults at Peppy Beach once and they are huge.  I also took a bit of video footage of this small one so you can see how they propel themselves through the water, it is really graceful and lovely to watch:

Now the way QuestaGame works is that other players get a chance to guess your finds, and after that has been completed the experts come in to undertake the final verifications.  I have noticed that often the other players will provide a more detailed guess delving into the species, whereas the experts will often stay at the next level up of the genus or at times family.  The reason being that the lower levels at times require far more conclusive evidence, which they at times mention is just not possible to verify from the images provided.  For my stingray above I’m waiting for the verification but it looks like it may be the Giant Black Stingray, which can grow up to 4.3m long.  What distinguishes the two I have not been able to find out, so I’ll await the experts verdict and see if they give me any advice on the differences to look out for next time:

I was however correct first hit with the above urchin.  Like the Impressive Pencil Urchin I do not get to see these Western Slate Pencil Urchins all that often.  This one also has distinctive chunky spines, but these are smooth with blunt rounded ends.  Also the body is deep red colour, as oppose to brown and the finer patterning on the body is less prominent.  I tend to find these stuck deep in rocky hollows and relatively clean.  Whereas the other variety is more out in the open and often covered in weed, almost obscuring it from view.  This one however was much easier to identify using google and all the local websites I make use of to identify my finds, making me think it may be more widely spread or the other variety is so well camouflaged when it coats itself in weed that people just don’t see it:

I have passed over the above image but it is included for a very good reason.  Not only does it show how amazing the visibility was today but if you look closely you will hopefully see why I took it.  A Giant Cuttlefish was cruising along underneath me.  It was clear that it had spotted me, as it made a slow but determined path towards the clump of weed in front of it.  Once there it nestled underneath the weed, away from my prying eyes.  The swell wasn’t huge today but the 15-20 second cycle would gently push the water shoreward and then back out to sea, and on the shoreward path it drew the weed the same way revealing the cuttlefish:

It was in 3-4m of water and I duck dived down to check out the cuttlefish, and I’m pleased to report it didn’t seem too perturbed by me saying hello.  I can count on one hand the number of times I have come across these gentle creatures and it always feel like a great privilege.  Despite getting cold I hung about for ages and eventually it came out and carried on with its journey, which took it up and over a shallower part of the reef.  While I didn’t take any video footage this time, I got a heap of stunning images including this one in which you can clearly see its funnel underneath the head.  It draws water in through this funnel, which then passes over its gill allowing it to extract oxygen:

I headed back to shore starting to chill on the inside.  This wasn’t helped by cloud creeping over the sky and blocking out the warming rays of the sun.  With reduce light the water looked more murky and I couldn’t see as far away from me.  As I looked sideways I could just make out a dark shape heading my way.  As it approached it diverted round me at a very healthy distance, too far to get a clear image but close enough for me to be able to see that it was another ray, and this one was missing its tail.  Maybe the chances are too small but I do wonder if it the same tail-less ray I have seen before.  Sadly having trawled through thousands of past images I can’t find any evidence of that previous encounter:

I left it to head on its way and as I got closer to shore another and then third similar ray came my way size both with their tails intact.  These two were clearly different and there was a larger and smaller one, the image below being of the latter.  Long whip like tails made it easier to have a go at identifying them.  I also took a short clip of their very different swimming technique, compared to the previous stingray, this time using their more pointed wings just like a bird.  I have always called these Eagle Rays, but it seems that Eagle Rays usually have a variable pattern of spots and stripes.  These did not so I guess it may be the Australian Cownose Ray, but another player on QuestaGame suggests it is an Southern Eagle Ray.  Another one I’ll have to await the experts verification on:

With so many finds I was out a bit longer on Thursday.  Back in my office at home I was shivering a little and my fingers were not function fully as I tried to tap away at the keyboard.  It took a good hour before the tea I was constantly sipping warmed me up from inside, while the fleece jacket I was wearing was keeping me insulated on the outside.  Friday came and again the wind was low and water calm, as I went in the visibility was the best yet.  I’ve continued to see lots of Blue Swimmer Crab, and while they are amazing to see they just seem too common to pop onto QuestaGame.  I did however pop down for a closer look at this one and it didn’t seem to want to swim far away or bury itself.  So I took a video of it both crawling and swimming away from me:

As I went over the reef proper the life below me seemed quiet, so I bobbed about keenly looked out to both sides hoping to spot more creatures heading my way.  So now seems to good time to mention that the very small thing I found floating near the surface, and included in a recent previous post called Trying to Focus, has been identified as a Melibe Nudibranch.  Growing up seven inches long this was obviously a juvenile.  The image was in focus enough to be able to have the plate like features identified as cerata, which are structures that can be used for breathing, digestion and also defence.  They are usually found on the surface but at times become detached and will then float about, and I was lucky to be in the right time at the right place to see this one.  I’ve not come across a mature one of these, but checking them out online they look very cool:

Nothing headed my way.  Some may think that is a good thing but while coming out is a great way to just relax and free the mind of quite literally everything, I also head out to see things big or small.  With little to grab my attention I started to randomly duck dive down, and that allowed me to get a rare full body image of a small female Orange Spotted Wrasse.  As soon I as pressed the button it darted into the weed and repeated the pattern I had seen so often before, poking its head out and as I get closer darting off to the next place to observe me from.  More often than not they stay within eyeshot and do not seem to swim off so I can’t find them.  It almost feels like playing a game of hide and seek, and the way they stay reasonably close it feel like they want to game to continue:

On one of my random dives down I spotted a Feather Duster Worm, and I’m pretty sure it is exactly the same one I included in most post almost a year ago to the day on 27 January 2020 (https://sandbagged.blog/2020/01/27/the-old-stomping-ground/).  Today however the water really was calm and I was able to get very close.  Both of these factors making it easy to get some great focused close up images of the intricate feathery branchiae, which is the technical name for gills.  Eventually after three or four dives down to check this beauty out it retracted into its protective tube.  But to see an image of the tube you will have to head to my previous post:

Today it was a shorter stint in the water, but as I came back in my luck with rays for the week continued.  I caught sight of a Striped Stingaree the tail giving it away.  Maybe the same one from the previous days, but this time it wasn’t so content to be observed and quickly darted off.  I then spotted a Southern Fiddler Ray and was hoping to get some footage of this fella swimming to add to the collection.  Sadly each time I went down it settled down and stayed motionless. A bit like a kid playing hide and seek, thinking that if you don’t move and close your eyes it magical becomes hidden from sight: