Friday 7 March 2014

Pictures and branchs March 2014

Pictures of the month:
1. Platycercus elegans (Crimson Rosella)
2. Lace Monitor (Varanus varius)
3. In full swing (Azure Kingfisher, Alcedo azurea)
4. Prince charming (could be Limnodynastes salmini, Salmon-striped Frog)

Branchs of the month:
1. Jorunna ramicola
2. Umbraculum umbraculum
3. Aplysia argus
4. Gymnodoris amakusana


Analogy of amakusana and striata (Gymnodoris amakusana)
Indetectable (Jorunna ramicola)
On a lookout (Azure Kingfisher, Alcedo azurea)
Smooth pincers
Lace Monitor (Varanus varius)
Probably a juvenile Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
Neochmia temporalis (Red-browed Finch)
Where is breakfast?
Platycercus elegans (Crimson Rosella)
Prince charming (could be Limnodynastes salmini, Salmon-striped Frog)
In full swing (Azure Kingfisher, Alcedo azurea)
Big branch

This is technically a bad photo. Just thought I might pay tribute to the first branch that I have seen at the Seaway. I was taken by its beauty. Someone IDed it as a Rose petal bubble shell back then. Hydatina physis is one of the most common branchs at the Gold Coast Seaway.
Big and bending (Cuthona yamasui)

Substrate
Goniobranchus geometricus

This picture is exciting for me for three reasons. Firstly, it was only the second branch species for that dive, found after about 150 minutes, shortly before I exited the water. Secondly, it shows the mouth region clearly. And thirdly, this branch is only about 3-4mm (a tenth of an inch). This species can grow and is normally found at a size of more than ten times that.
Additionally, I am happy with the quality of the photo: despite its small size, details of the animal are still visible with beautiful growth next to it. The branch was posing on top of a rock on a slope. That means that I had more freedom to compose the photo than usual.

Videos

Turtle with lure
Really bad video quality. But I hope it helps to locate the turtle and free it from the lure in its mouth.

Maybe some of the background story (for people wondering how this video fits in): I contacted Sealife rescue from Seaworld via their contact form on July 14 informing them of the turtle with a lure stuck to it. The next morning I was very positively surprised to find an email from the PA to the manager of the Marine Science Division in my inbox folder asking for details. There were a few emails going back and forth - all very professional and forthcoming. Posting this video is a result of it. Sending large files is still annoying via email. It would be great if it would help to assess the situation and maybe help professional intervention in this case. I doubt that it would be traumatic for the turtle or very costly in terms of an intervention but it could greatly increase the turtle's chances of survival.
It was unusual behaviour that the turtle swam towards me unsuspecting of my presence until it almost bumped into me. It is not often that I encounter turtles and if I do, they are often sick and covered in algae. This one was the biggest in that area ever (and I first thought an eagle ray was approaching me, being taken by the elegance of the striking wings and thinking that it is a bit of an unusual mouth until realising my mistake). I don't think it is the turtle that used to hang around in the area a while ago. The lure looks shiny and new, the turtle still healthy. I could not determine if the mobility of its left front flipper was restricted at all and where exactly it was hooked. But the Seaway is a dangerous place with a lure and that much fishing line and substrate stuck to an animal. A few of the Seaway fishermen use big triple hooks and braided steel lines that will never fall off. I have freed or tried to free many fish and morays hooked on abandoned fishing line. But I am unsure how many of them survived.
So, let's hope for the best for the turtle. I will keep this (embarrassingly bad video) posted for a while in case I'll get a feedback in this matter.
P.S. On a positive note: I found my personal Seaway species No. 150 on the same dive - a real beauty and rarely found. Check out www.amateurbranching.com.


Swimming StonefishStonefish are one of the real non-human dangers of diving at the Seaway. Diving solo means possibly not having anybody who could bring me to the doctor and perform CPR if I went into cardiac arrest. Branchs sometimes crawl over stonefish and they would not budge. So, the danger is real for me and this is a reminder.




Aplysia argus and Octopus
Here is the video of probably the biggest branch that I have ever seen. It was a whopper - as long as my forearm, but much thicker.

The Octopus is around quite often. During night dives Octopus and big crabs are often met in a stand-off and fight for their lives. I spotted a big crab out in the sand fast approaching my torch light. That's when the Octopus joined the scene.




Feeding octopus (an old video)



Smoothnose Wedgefish, Leopard shark and Bull ray
A collage of older video snippets of a few Elasmobranchs.


Decorator crab
A decorator crab (probably Campbell's spider crab) is going for a walk. This is one of my older videos featuring that elusive creature.



Thursday 6 March 2014

Older photos

Colours
Geisha
Prismatic
Blue eye
Beach house
To drive or not to drive
Natural arches
Peacock

Golden Trevallies (Gnathanodon speciosus) smooth riding

Smoothnose Wedgefish (Rhynchobatus laevis)

Ridding the sand


Orangutan crab (Achaeus japonicus)

Australian Mining Dump Ground



Sand mining and sunset.


This guy was encountered in a National Park. It was very inquisitive and could clearly smell the boiled eggs that we had with us. It has been killed or relocated a short while after that photo was taken.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Nostalgia Drag Racing Willowbank

Smokey mountains
Cann'n Ball
Heads on
Ready, steady, typo
Blue - red - white: a star on stripes




















Turtoise


Untamed