I couldn’t make my mind up as to what to do today, a swim was inevitable but where to go. Part of me was not too keen to go too far along the beach, maybe feeling a little weary from yesterday. However, if the conditions were like yesterday then it could be pretty good round the more intact reef system. Eventually I plumped for a walk past the point. Thinking that I have enough days sat at a computer coming up at working next week, so a stretch and swim would be good. And I am glad I did:
My first find was the above strange looking creature, of which I found three. I knew it was a sea cucumber but have never seen this sort before. I think it may be a Snot Sea Cucumber (Leptosynapta dolabrifera), and you may well be thinking I am making that name up but I’m not. These creatures have a transparent body, which this did. They burrow into the sand using the tentacles round its mouth to draw in sand, which is probably why I have seen them before. The Rough Sea Cucumber (Australostichopus mollis) also has tentacles:
However, I’ve always found Rough Sea Cucumber as they are resting up in the daytime, tucked up tightly in some nook. The tentacles have therefore not been visible before and today I also didn’t get to see them as this one was feeding. It’s mouth stuck in the sand with the tentacles busy pulling sand in. What I really liked was seeing the hundreds of tiny tube feet, which like the tentacles are out of sight when they are resting up. In fact I didn’t even realise they had feet until now. The dive had started well and I had picked a good spot:
Plenty of fish were about, but I wasn’t in the chasing mood today. I spent a fair bit of time in the reef where the water was shallow, peering down into the caves below. Lots of Old Wife (Enoplosus armatus) were hiding in these, but not keen to be photographed. Instead we had a face off each time I got too close, making them look very skinny. Here I also came across some more accessible Zimmers Sea Fan (Mopsella Zimmeri), so took a close up to allow you to see the polyps filtering the water to catch zooplankton with their eight tentacles:
In addition to the creatures I have recently seen out in the daytime, when they are normally hidden away, I also came across a tiny green worm. It was clinging to a rock and I tried to get a clear image, but the swell was having none of it. As the worm clung on I drifted away. Being in shallow water above the reef, I was pleasantly surprised at how many fish passed in front of me. For the most part I just watched and also had a laugh when I had to give way to this never ending highway of Western Striped Grunter (Helotes octolineatus):
Despite spending over an hour in the water, on the walk back I went in for another quarter of an hour. This was to say hello to Lumpy a forty year old Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). She lives between Bunbury and Peppermint Grove Beach, which approximates to their normal range of approx. twenty five kilometres. She is one of the oldest known dolphins of the local population and enjoys interacting with humans and animals alike. So despite the stingers and feeling a bit cold I simply had to jump back in to have a swim with her:
Sandbagged 