Lady in red, she’s dancing with me beneath the waves, on the dance floor of the sea. Our giant cuttlefish are beautiful, gentle and curious creatures. When diving with them you never know how an encounter will go. Sometimes they retreat under a ledge or into some hideaway. Sometimes they linger just out of reach. […]
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When you play the game ‘what critter is that?’ long enough you eventually start talking Latin. It’s not by choice but most critters that live on the ocean floor are only known by Latin names. This little guy, Tylodina corticalis, is a primitive notaspid (more Latin) or more commonly a ‘side gilled slug’ (finally some […]
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Prowling the sandy bottom between the sea-grass beds of Rapid Bay, the carnivorous undulate volute (Amoria undulata) is on the hunt for other mollusks. Up close that beautiful spiral shell reminds me of cinnamon scrolls while from a distance a tiny Dyson vacuum cleaner. Volutes were plentiful during our recent night dive under Rapid Bay […]
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I had never dived Nelson Bay before last weekend and as we geared up in the dark at Fly Point for the high tide dive I was acutely aware that I really should dive here in the daylight first. The moment we submerged though I caught sight of my first nudibranch for the dive, then […]
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Marine images of shellfish are not high on the list of glamorous marine subjects. True, most shellfish find it hard to capture attention the way sharks, whales, brightly coloured reef fish and any number of other fascinating marine creatures do though there are exceptions. The first time I came upon a Black Cowry (Zoila friendii) […]
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