More Kayaking

Easter Monday we went to Noarlunga and hired two sit on type kayaks for a trial to see how they fared. Not as good as the enclosed kayaks in the Port River

Saturday, a day of sea and sky 1

A long snouted boarfish, Pentaceropsis recurvirostris. Not so commonly seen on the reef and can be confused with the much more common Old Wife. These Boarfish usually live on deeper reefs. This one was hiding under the big chain on the northern half of the reef until a couple of young lads playing on the chain scared it away.





Uschi, looking the part in her new kit :-)








A Blue Devil Fish, Paraplesiops meleagris. Also known as a Western Blue Devil. A commonish fish in deep water off the South Australian coast, but not so common at Port Noarlunga. I caught a glimpse of this one while Uschi and I were looking at a blenny in a hole in the reef. By just waiting on either side of the ledge it was under we eventually saw it come out and I got this picture.


A day of peering under ledges. We decided to get out of the water by swimming back to the shore rather than walk back along the jetty. In water only 2m deep I stumbled across this cuttlefish. After he saw me he did his body distortion trick and blended in very well with the weeds

Port Noarlunga - A place to swim

A strangely high number of the hits on this blog are searching for info on snorkeling at Port Noarlunga. Consequently for this post I will describe the site a little.

It is one of the most popular SCUBA/snorkeling/swimming sites in South Australia.

From the aerial photo it can be seen that there is a jetty which runs out to a reef.

Jetty.

The jetty has two sets of steps. One at the very end, near the reef, and one about half way along. That is, about a third of the way between the mid tide mark and the reef.

Reef

The reef runs parallel to the shore about 400m out. It is a natural limestone feature in temperate waters (unlike the coral reefs generally associated with the tropics) and is more than 1500m long, but only a few metres wide. I think the natural reef has been supplemented by various debris over the years. There is a gap in the southern part of the reef which allows swimmers to pass through to the seaward side if they choose to. The reef gives shelter, from the open gulf, to swimmers (and fish!) on the shoreward side, particularly at low tide. However, care should always be taken as there can be strong drift (north or south) even inside the reef. It is best to swim into the current when beginning your swim, so that later when coming home you will be aided by the current rather than have to fight it when tired. While Port Noarlunga is a popular and relatively safe area, there are often no formal life saving or other services on hand, so assesing the suitability/safety of conditions is the responsibility of the swimmer.

At high tide the waves from the gulf pass over the reef. They carry particles and bubbles, so visibility is reduced. The seaward side of the reef carries a more luxuriant layer of sea vegetation, chiefly kelp. Between the reef and the low tide mark is a sandy floor with extensive areas of weeds and sometimes shell fish.

Reserve

The whole area is a marine reserve which means that bait digging, spearfishing, line fishing within 25 metres of the reef or within 50 metres of the end of the jetty, collecting or removing anything (fish, shells etc) are all prohibited activities. There is a "marine trail" with 12 underwater markers (and one anchor!) which can be followed.

What you will see.

The usual way to enter the water is to walk to the extreme end of the jetty and use the steps there. Except for the last 50m of the jetty, line fishing is allowed and you will see what fish are biting at the time. Once in the water at the steps you will see thick schools of fish (Zebra Fish, Sweep, Leather Jackets, Whiting etc). They wait there to be fed by divers and others. The Jetty legs have metal bars attached for convenient handholds and the water is about 6-9m deep here. Swimming directly out from the jetty end puts you next to the reef within a few metres. Then travelling slowly north or south will give you the opportunity to see the various sea life along the reef. Most obvious will be Old Wives, Magpie Perch (feeding on the reef) Leather Jackets, Wrasse, Bryzoans, Starfish, SeaUrchins and Sponges. Reputedly there are over 200 species of marine life on the reef, including 38 species of fish.

Of course, the reef environment is fragile, with so many people visiting it, care should be taken to avoid touching anything if possible.

If you decide to swim back to the shore from the reef (or start by approaching the reef from the shore) either keep wholly underneath the jetty or swim many metres away from it in order to give the maximum clearance to the lines of people legitimately fishing from the jetty.

Trail Diagram taken from the PIRSA brochure regarding the Port Noarlunga trail.

Yet More Snorkeling - Port Noarlunga 1

Got up as the sun was rising and went for a swim at Seacliff. It was pretty cold and we spent an hour in the water. After that we decided to go to Port Noarlunga and got there mid morning with the tide very low. It was still a bit cool in the water but as the sun came up it became quite pleasant. I swam around the north end to the seaward side of the reef but the sun was on the other side side so it was pretty gloomy there and I went back to the sheltered side. Saw lots of things there, including these: Ceratosoma brevicaudatum, a short tailed nudibranch. One of three I saw on the day.

A lovely little Tasmanian Blenny hiding in a cleft in the reef, Parablennius tasmanius. There seem to be two colour variations in Tasmanian Blennies at Port Noarlunga. A bluish one and a mottled one.















The black fish took me ages to identify, I now think it is a "Scalyfin" Parma victoriae. In most fish books the Scalyfin is shown as a yellowish fish, but they can vary to dark grey/black like this one. The Blue fin margins were particularly striking.

Yet More Snorkeling - Port Noarlunga 2

A shag on a rock!













A pink sponge.

Once I decided to get out of the water I swam back to shore under the jetty rather than get out and walk back along the jetty. In comparatively shallow water I saw this Eagle Ray Myliobatis australis. This was the fourth Eagle Ray I have seen recently, including one at marino and two off the beach at Seacliff.














Also an eleven armed sea star. This one was in a metre or so of water and walking toward some rocks. I think it may have wandered too far out from it's normal range the previous night.

The Chain at Port Noarlunga

Across the reef at Noarlunga, to the north of the jetty is a chain. Each link is about a metre long. It passes from the sandy bottom, up and over the reef itself. This view is looking along the sandy floor, toward the reef.

More Snorkeling at Port Noarlunga

A Ringed Toadfish (Omegophora armilla). The "ring" can be seen around the pectoral fin.










A pink sponge.











Razor Fish (Family Pinnidae)

Two more sponges?
As far as sponges go, Australia is a relatively poorly studied area. Queensland Museum "Sponguide" notes that there are about 1400 described species, but estimates that there are 5000 or so species existing.

ANZAC Day snorkelling

Stingaree of some sort Urolophus testaceus? the Common Stingaree

A Strong Fish, also known as a Dusky Morwong
Dactylophora nigricans










Yelloweye Mullet Aldrichetta forsteri













A nudibranch. I have no idea what sort as there are too many species.

PS. After writing the blog entry I spent nearly all of one evening on the very informative Sea Slug Forum pages hosted by the Australian Museum and it seems our little friend is the fairly common:
Ceratosoma brevicaudatum

Old Wives at Port Noarlunga

Old Wives (Enoplosus armatus)

A very common fish in South Australia. They can be found in small schools or individually.























Yesterday there were a number of pairs sitting quietly along the bottom edge of the Port Noarlunga reef. This pair were sheltering under an old ship's anchor located on the SCUBA diver's trail at about 4-5m depth at low tide.
I was only snorkeling but I was able to dive down a number of times to get several shots. The fish didn't swim away so I assume they were preoccupied and the pairing has something to do with mating, but there wasn't anything obvious I could see they were doing. These individuals are about 300mm long.
There were several other pairs just out in the open above the sandy floor.








Some Australian creatures are not as innocuous as they might seem. The Old Wife has poisonous dorsal spines which have given a few fishermen painful jabs, but they are perfectly safe to swim with (as far as I know).

A Night Dive at ...

...Port Noarlunga! Who woulda thought it.

An interesting invertebrate. This example was with a few others out over the open sand about 40 metres south of the jetty. A few bubbles detract from the shot, but worth it for the glow around the eyes.

Red Mullet. There are three fish in Australia known by this common name. This one is actually Upeneus tragula. The most obvious feature of this fish is its whskers (but they don't show too well in this piccy). They are used for fossicking through the sand for food.

A Baby Blenny at Port Noarlunga

A baby Blenny (about 50mm long). The rotten little thing wouldn't stay still for long, zipping around in the fine sea grass on the limestone rocks of the reef. Just below the intertidal zone.
Parablennius tasmanianus ?

Another Blenny hiding in it's hole (picture taken by Uschi) Parablennius intermedius maybe

Another fish, about as long as my forearm. I wish I knew what sort :-)

Taken about 4m down.

Another Fish at Noarlunga

A better picture using a new underwater housing (better than a plastic bag!). The waves were strong and consequently lots of bubbles lit up by the flash, but an improvement.

Saw the comet too.

A fish off the Noarlunga reef

Taken in December using my Canon A610 in a plastic bag.