18-19 December: Days of the Dragons

I don't care what anyone says about visibility. Again, after a hard rain and the resulting "poor" visibility, those intrepid adventurers who were prepared to plumb the murk were rewarded. And what rewards there were to be had with the discovery of new and old friends along the way.

At Marble Rock and K41 on Saturday we were to be very thankful. First, Wayne spotted this great Nudi Sexfest of Dermatobranchus ornatus on a coral branch. I must admit that the first time I saw the mass I thought that either it was a large blob of porridge ("oat meal" for the americans) or Wayne had had a bit of a 'sicky' on the reef. Of course, I was wrong on both.

Magnificent Menage a tois

And then the Dragons came out to play. Pteraeolidia ianthia. The "chinese dragon". I love these guys. Not only are they incredibly ornate but (because of it) they are really hard to capture in a photo. I like photographing them because they make a nice study. They are also quite variable in size, colour and complexity. I understand that they vary with age but it is sometimes hard not to think that they are different species. Perhaps this is a relatively young one...

But contrast that one with this glorious specimen at Bob's Rock taken on Sunday. So different.

There were many Dragons out on the weekend at Marble Rock and at Bob's rock. Fantastic!

While not making it into the photo gallery we were lucky to spot at K41 old friends of the micro world and the world of..let us say 'Macro'. The tiny Flabelina rubrolineolata eluded my camera skills. At the larger scale, however, we are happy to report that, rumors of Barry-cuda's death are greatly exaggerated. What a beast of a fish! Sitting there only a few metres from us on the edge of gloom, trying to decide whether I will be the main course and Wayne dessert, or the reverse. Where have you been, Barry? There is no reply. Wayne feared that he had been made into fish steaks or become sushi for hammerhead sharks. I held out a faint hope, however, that he was just out for a few weeks in order to undertake...er... propagation activities. Still, he's back and that's all that's important!

On Sunday, we were lucky enough to find what Breanna and Kym call the "Christmas Tree Nudi" - Nembrotha Kubaryana. Amazingly spotted by Marianne. Don't ask me how she found it under that coral ledge at Lone Tree.

My shots would have been better if I could see properly and didn't spend the first 20 shots shooting this Nudi's butt!

And then there was the flashy ("flashing") Chromodoris Coi lifting its skirt for the camera at Bob's rock. This is the first time I have managed to get a shot of this strange skirt-lifting activity by this pretty little nudi.

And here is a new one for me. Phylidiopsis annae (thanks to Wayne for the ID..after all, you do have in your possession my magnificent new Nudi Encyclopedia...)

Perhaps 10mm long, this guy was a challenge first for my eyesight and then for my camera skills.

Back to Adelaide for Christmas to see my son, Raeph, and family. Raeph will, no doubt, want to spend much time discussing fishing. I can hear already his 12 year old skeptical questioning of his old man: "Dad, do you even KNOW what a GT is?! I shall return with my new Macro lens soon! Merry Christmas to all!

11 December: Bob's Rock and K41

A slow start to the nudi-hunt at Bob's Rock finished with an interesting collection - some old favorites and a new one that is still to be identified. All this at about 7.6m on the right side of Bob's.

What is it? Neville Coleman tells me it is a type of flatworm known as Pseudoceros goslineri. This guy was about 20mm long. Sadly, without the macro lens more detail was not available.

Am I mistaken or has something been munching on this fellow? It looks like a nice sized bite taken from the right of the body.

Here is what Neville Coleman (thanks, Neville) had to say about it: "This somewhat variable flatworm was named after the great Nudibranch taxonomist Dr. Terry Gosliner. It occurs across the Indo-Pacific and grows to around 50 mm. This specimen has been damaged at sometime and has a re growth at the rear of the back, making it look similar to a nudibranch."

The heavy rains the night before made both Bob's Rock and K41 tough for visibility - 10-15m (but not impossible). After an easy run along the coral wall at K41 (east), however, the western side threw as much current as it could at us. First came the rush of warm water from the shallows pushing us down deeper, soon to be followed by an extraordinary west-flowing gale that had us clamped to rocks and holding on for about 10 minutes until we clawed our way back to the exit point. Thoroughly exhausting!

This is the first time I have seen this nudi: Phylidia monacha at K41 on the coral wall at about 13m. Nudipixel tells me that this species is uncommon. Yeah!

Also the first time that I have seen this cooky little nudi (Reticulidia fungi): at 13m at K41

And while these 'warty' nudis are as common a muck, we are still recording their presence - 16m near the coral wall (east) Phylidia coelestis?.

And well done, Marcus for finding this little beauty (Phidiana indica?) West at K41 at around 7m. This guy was about 20mm long. Still wishing for that Macro lens (which is waiting for me in Adelaide as a Christmas present to myself!

And just for the fish lovers, a clown fish (I can rarely get one in focus because they move so much!)

At Bob's Rock

Even More Tasi Tolu

Wayne and I visited Tasi Tolu again this morning. It may sound tiring to do this tiny site again and again but, really, it isn't. Every day finds something new (and other 'old' things that I never tire of). The first thing we saw? The dugong from the surface but, sadly, he was nowhere to be seen underwater (just telltale inexplicable dust clouds). The visibility was reasonably good although the amount of particulate in the water column did pose problems with backscatter (for me, anyway). Still, there was MY BLESSED RHINOPIAS (Rhinopius sanctus gratias deo - probably not his real scientific name) as well as cuttlefish, seahorse (this time I did get 1 reasonable photo) and the amazingly crazy Squat Shrimp (Thor amboinensis). I won't even talk about the lost Nembrotha cristata at the end of the dive which defied photography because it was lurking beneath some hard coral. Curse you, vile nudi!

A cranky looking seahorse with friends looking on. Perhaps I wasn't the first photographer of the day. Perhaps he just wanted some privacy. Who knows the workings of the seahorse mind?!

And just to add to his annoyance, I took a full frontal shot.

I don't know about you but I always find cuttlefish slightly sinister looking. There have been a few of these small (juvenile?) white cuttlefish around "the patch" the last few dives.

And what to make of this crazy Squat Shrimp Jive? These guys are in a perpetual state of dance and they are hilarious to watch. Perhaps I should take a video and set it to music.

Sunday 5 December: When too much Tasi Tolu is barely enough!

Marcus, Marianne and I went to Tasi Tolu Sunday morning in pretty average visibility conditions. It was low tide and the worst possible time after the heavy rain the night before. But when the fog rolls in the critters come out. Aside from cold upwellings of marine snow (which made backscatter a problem the whole dive) there were some interesting sights. Sadly, the shots of the Seahorse never made it to the editing board because of exposure issues. The same for the Nudi i found with Marcus on the later dive (probably Glossodoris cincta). But My Blessed Rhinopias was there again and, later, a camouflaged cuttlefish was lurking in the shadows and brilliantly spotted by Marianne.

My Blessed Rhinopias!

Uncovered...hiding in the sand looking for brunch!