Creefs

Even though CA and YI are back safe and sound from Ningaloo, there stories are now getting posted.

Check;
http://www.aims.gov.au/creefs/latest-field-trip-ningaloo-2010.html


More later, this month looks busy with the Asia-Pacific Coral Reef Symposium coming up.

Ningaloo update

Hi all,

If you want to check out what is happening with CReefs Ningaloo 2010 expedition (with YI and CA participating), go to;

http://www.aims.gov.au/creefs/latest-field-trip-ningaloo-2010.html

cheers,

JDR

Heron Island day 18

Last full day on Heron!

Two dives, one at a "mystery bommie" not on the charts; very nice.

Stats:
Specimens: 268
Species: 18, 43 including morphs
Beers remaining: 3
Sharks seen while diving: 8 to 10
Deepest dive: 29.3
Shallowest dive: 2.2, plus intertidal walks
Best lunch: Tuna steak with wasabi mayo
Best dinner: Tough to call, but chicken and pasta?
Best dessert: Sticky date

Until next time...

Heron Island day 17

Second to last day of diving, visited Masthead Reef. Some samples, and a school of sweetlips hanging out under a bommie made the dives enjoyable.

Sunset drinks at the resort, and a great dinner (as usual with the chef's great talent!).

Stats:
Samples: 258
Beers left: 5 + some more with Kareen

Off to do laundry. Last post (?) from Heron tomorrow.

Heron Island days 15 and 16

Day 16: Windy and our first real rain here today. The island now smells like guano.

Spearfishing in the morning for fish parasites, followed by a single dive at North Wistari in the afternoon. No new species; two samples.

Dinner: Pork in bacon with rice and apples
Beers: 2
Papers accepted during this trip: 2
Coffees: 3
Chai: 2
Samples total: 247
Species: 17?
Sharks seen today: 1 gray

Two dives tomorrow, weather permitting. In the last four days, Aaron, Rae, Monika and Lynda have left. Gary leaves tomorrow!

Day 15: Great dive, one more zoanthid species! And a looooong nap (5 hours). Must have been tired.

Heron Island day 14

Very exciting dive today.

First dive was the channel, deep and interesting, but pretty mellow. No current, and only few samples. However, during the second and more shallow dive, a school of baitfish swam over me. Then, six gray sharks swam by me, and one hung around. They were eating the baitfish, and were very "alert", twitching as I breathed. Cool, but pretty scary, they were probably 20 feet from me. Needless to say, stuck with my buddy after that.

Stats:
Samples: 238
Species: 16?
Beers consumed: 35
Longest nap: 5 hours 10 minutes (today!).

See you tomorrow.

Heron Island day 13

Great dives today at Sykes, tomorrow looks like the weather is getting worse... First dive was a deep wall, followed by a shallow bommie dive. Lots of nice samples, especially on the shallow dive. Sunset swim and beer, great dinner (roast beef) and dessert.

Facts:
Samples: 223
Species: 16 or 17 - one new Zoanthus today (vietnamensis sensu Uchida)
Beers consumed: 31

Tomorrow is a 7 am start, so up at 6! Zzzz...

Heron Island day 12

Day 12; back on diving. Two dives, one shallow and one deep. Great samples from the deep dive, including the new species and some nice octocorals.

Samples: 204
Species: 15 or 16 (one mysterious sample today)

Dinner: Kangaroo!

Tomorrow is Sykes Reef again, our favourite spot thus far!

Heron Island day 11

Finally a day of rest - no diving! Caught up on laundry and other important things.... And had a nice snorkel on the reef in the afternoon.

Stats
Samples: 192
Species: 15

Dinner was a nice (sirloin?) steak, followed by dessert. Tomorrow is diving again, need to do more intertidal work as well.

Heron Island day 10

A bit late on the post today; we had a beach BBQ and small party last night. Today is a day in the lab, with an afternoon snorkel.

Yesterday; two dives on North Heron Reef at First Point. The current really picked up at the end of the first dive, thankfully the "Jesus Line" was out...

Update:

Samples: 172, still at 15 species.
Dive total: 19, 10 days in a row
Dinner: Steak and salad, beer, whisky

More later today.

Heron Island day 9

9th day of diving - back to Lamont Reef today. Found one more species, now have a total of 14 to 15 species!

Total samples: 164
Dives: 17
Laundry done: Once
Days since proper shoes have been worn: 6
Sleepiness: maximum

Tomorrow are 2 shallow dives, and then a beach party! Saturday is finally a day of rest.

Dinner: Chicken and beans, and the best dessert! Kudos to the chef.

Heron Island day 8; blog

Check out the CReefs blog:
http://www.aims.gov.au/creefs/latest-field-trip-heron-2009.html

Another day of diving.
Totals: 151 samples. 13-14 species.
Today: 5 new specimens of the "mystery" zoanthid!

Lots of great food.

Done for the day, beer and sunset, followed by lots of paperwork.

More tomorrow...

Heron Island day 7

Still diving...

Update: 138 specimens, 1 new species today.

Supposedly a turtle tried to mate with me yesterday, but I didn't even notice it right behind me as I sampled.

More dives tomorrow, but should be easy, second trip to Sykes.

off to bed soon!

Heron Island day 6

Lots of samples todays from two dives and an intertidal reef walk. Combined with 5 hours of sleep; one sleepy zoanthid researcher. Still have all the samples to process...

Update: 124 samples
Total species 11-12 (2 new today; Zoanthus vietnamensis, and "true" Palythoa mutuki.

Hope to make the sunset beer...

Heron Island day 5

Weather is still great. 8 of us went to Broomfield Reef for two dives. Not so many zoanthids, but still some nice samples. Spawn slicks on the way and back from the reef, stretching for kilometers. Mass spawning is massive on the GBR! The slick has a distinct smell as well.

Facts: zoanthid species: still at 9-10 (including 2 new)
total samples: 93

Watched a loggerhead sea turtle give birth today after dinner.

Dinner: Roast lamb.

Will try some intertidal tomorrow.

Heron Island day 4

Great day today! 30 samples. Dove the wall at Sykes Reef, lots of diversity, and rich reef. No wind, waves small - all in all great. Also, very cool morphotypes of Zoanthus, fluorescent orange with fluorescent yellow tentacles.

Facts: zoanthid species: 9-10 (including 2 new)

Tomorrow - up at 6 am; these CReefs trips are intense and fun.

Did I mention dinner? Steak and lobster.

Urp.

JDR

Heron Island day 3

Zoanthid facts from Creefs Heron Island 2009
Species: still 7
Samples: 46

Tomorrow we head to a vertical wall, hoping for some Brachycnemina. Flat weather, no waves for the next four days, so this our big chance to go far afield. Sharks and turtles commonly visible on the flat water surfaces. No sign of my lost camera though.

Pictures will hopefully get uploaded when the net is working well. JDR over and out.

Heron Island day 2

Hard to upload pictures here; the internet link is satellite-based.

Updates from day 2:
1. Two dives for me today, both at North Heron Reef, backreef area. First dive was on a sandy channel bottom, lots of nice animals I had never seen, and lots of one species of zoanthid.
2. Second dive in coral and sand, shallower. Much more diverse, and a huge loggerhead checked us out on the way in.
On the way in we saw a school of baitfish getting eaten by birds and a shark - which was bigger than anything I had seen thus far in Okinawa!

Zoanthid species total: 7 (Palythoa caesia, P. heliodiscus, P. sp. 2 sensu Burnett 1997, P. cf. mutuki, Zoanthus aff. coppingeri sensu Burnett 1997, Z. sp. 1, unknown zoanthid sensu Fujii 2009
Samples: 30

Sunset and beer is a nice daily tradition observed both days thus far.

More tomorrow.

Heron Island #1

Hi all,

Quick update from Heron Island. We arrived yesterday, 100km off shore from Gladstone. The new marine station here is very nice, and CReefs looks after the researchers very very well.

Some quick bits of info:
1. Heron Island is covered with birds. One species, the shearwater, comes back only at night, and the babies cry all night. Makes sleep tough, and when you do sleep, the dreams are odd!
2. Reefs here are proper no-take zones, and full of life. Zoanthids too (see picture).
3. I am not going to lose weight here, steak for dinner last night, duck for lunch!
4. Marine biologists are great simply because they like beer.

I will try to post every day.

JDR@Heron