The Blue-Ringed Octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa, has one of the deadliest toxins of all sea creatures! Its venomous bite can easily kill a human despite its diminutive size of less than 12cm. Fortunately human deaths are very rare as long as effective treatment is close at hand. Edithburgh has a large population of these fascinating critters […]
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The Devil’s In Town
In many years of diving Edithburgh Jetty is my first every encounter with a Western Blue Devil, Paraplesiops meleagris. One of the most visually striking in both form and colour of all the southern Australian reef fishes, the Western Blue Devil normally is found lurking in caves and under ledges of deeper offshore reefs. This […]
Read MoreWestern Cleaner Clingfish
This little guy under Rapid Bay Jetty is a Western Cleaner Clingfish, Cochleoceps bicolor. In more than 25 years of diving this location, this year is the first time I have seen them here. The first time was back in late winter when my dive buddy Alexius found one during one of our dives. Since […]
Read MoreHiding In Plain Sight
At first we saw nothing, just jetty pylons, yellow algae and usual nocturnal subjects found on an Edithburgh night dive. Then we saw them everywhere, on the yellow algae, short-head seahorses hiding in plain sight. Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Hiding In Plain Sight’ 1/160s f/9 ISO160 50mm
Read MorePrimes
Prime numbers are common in plants but not so common with animals unless you are talking about starfish. The eleven-armed sea star, Coscinasterias muricata, is our largest starfish and very common here in South Australia. There were plenty of these starfish under Edithburgh Jetty but this guy was the only one nicely posing for a […]
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