These little critters are Blue Throat Ascidians (Clavelina australis) and live in compound clusters. They look like a nest of little chicks of some bizarre bird with mouths agape chirping for food. Actually just like birds these critters are chordates and though they don’t really have a backbone they do have long nerve running the […]
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Biscuit Stars, Tosia australis, come in all sorts of colour variations. This beautiful purple star under Rapid Bay Jetty reminded me of a gingerbread man with its striking orange internal markings. Sea stars are not perhaps the most exciting of undersea critters and are often overlooked by divers who miss out on their intricate beauty. […]
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Nestled inside a pocket of alien pink landscape is a Castelnau’s Goby, Nesogobius pulchellus Like all gobies this one is cute, curious and you can almost imagine it wanting to startup a conversation. Make a sudden move though and in the blink of an eye there will only be an empty pink grotto. Photo: Robert […]
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This feathery looking thing is actually a worm. It’s a Southern fan worm Sabellastarte australiensis Sometimes they are even called Feather Duster Worms and just like its cleaner namesake those appendages sweep the water clean hoping to find nutrition in the suspended particles floating by. Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Feather Duster’ 1/200s f/32 ISO100 100mm
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The conditions today at Rapid Bay were sensational with 15m visibility. I so wished I had set up for wide angle but today’s dive was a macro gear shakedown. Immediately on our decent we came across this beautiful Swimming anemone, Phlyctenactis tuberculosa. The fact that this macro image make it look like fluorescent coffee beans […]
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