Category Archives: The sea

Sunfish

Posted on Saturday, 16 February 2013 by

I was looking through some old photos and came across these two, from my days as a curatorial assistant at the South Australian Museum. There’d been a call from the public about a “funny fish” washed up. It’s a sunfish, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fish, The sea | Tagged | 4 Comments

The plainsong of seals

Posted on Monday, 21 January 2013 by

I’m presently reading Robert MacFarlane’s wonderful The Wild Places, about the search for wildness and its meaning. He describes something I’d love to hear. He’s sailing to an island off Wales in England: As we drew close to the shore, … Continue reading →

Posted in The sea, Travels | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Another nice nudibranch

Posted on Thursday, 22 November 2012 by

The new moon brought a very low tide, so off to Flat Rock. Fortunately it’s recovered from all that sand over winter, and there were lots of animals, shells and so on in the rock pools. I was especially pleased … Continue reading →

Posted in The sea, Travels | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

What the sea dragged in

Posted on Monday, 12 November 2012 by

“Dangerous surf” warnings usually signal a good time to beach-comb. You never know what is going to turn up. This time, it was jellyfish in the wrong place at the wrong time, and unable to avoid being smashed up or … Continue reading →

Posted in The sea, Travels | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Art and kelp forests and pyrosomes, oh my

Posted on Wednesday, 31 October 2012 by

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to dive in a kelp forest – one of those with really long fronds in Tasmania or Monterey Bay, USA, for instance. I imagine they are pretty strong and entangling, as I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, The sea, Travels | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Sleeping underwater

Posted on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 by

On the weekend, perfect subtropical winter weather induced us to go to Woody Head for a snorkel – sparkling waters, fairly calm, water temperature greater than air temperature. Off the rock platform, there’s a spot that is sheltered by a … Continue reading →

Posted in The sea, Travels | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A small crinoid

Posted on Monday, 2 July 2012 by

I bet I’ve looked in hundreds of rock pools and seen crinoids (feather stars), but just didn’t recognise them. They look like seaweed but are really animals. This one was waving its arms in a decidedly unplant-like manner and wouldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in The sea, Travels | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A mysterious bone

Posted on Sunday, 1 July 2012 by

Found in a rock pool on the rock platform at Flat Rock yesterday … Update from the Queensland Museum; many thanks to Jeff Johnson, manager of the Ichthyology section: The jaw is from an eastern blue groper, Achoerodus viridis. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Fish, The sea, Travels | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

They’re doing it – they’re doing it now!

Posted on Wednesday, 14 March 2012 by

I have a long-standing fascination with the deep ocean. Hence my interest in Her Deepness Sylvia Earl, and my books on what’s known so far: Van Dover’s “The Octopus’s Garden” and “The Ecology of Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents”, Broad’s “The Universe … Continue reading →

Posted in Fish, The sea | Tagged | Leave a comment

Melbourne Aquarium (part 2)

Posted on Sunday, 19 February 2012 by

Continued from part 1 … The nautilus  has been on the planet around 500 million years. It lives at depth in the Indo-Pacific ocean. I haven’t yet found its shell washed up on a beach, but I’m still looking.

Posted in Fish, The sea, Travels | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments