Quiet Corner morning snorkel
It was the long weekend, the weather was warm and the winds mostly lightl northerly in the mornings. We set out for Blackrock and Quiet Corner day and night snorkels. Our first swim was at Quiet Corner in the morning. At the moment, visibility is extraordinary. It’s been good all year, on account of there having been no major sediment events last spring. We could probably see 20 metres today.
The first highlight was a little Elysia. These sapsucking seaslugs are starting to appear in greater numbers. They often graze the filamentous algae on bare rocks, so they are quite easy to find, even though they are small. There are also a few leatherjackets around at the moment. Nothing like the numbers there would have once been and they congregate here this time of year, like many of the other larger fish. A Reef Flathead was also nice to find.
Blackrock afternoon snorkel
In the afternoon we headed out from opposite the Blackrock clock tower and to our surprise, the first thing we found was a Sacoglossum (seagrape) sea slug! It was just offshore sitting on sargussum weed in no more than 30cm of water. The nearest sea grapes were some way deeper. Shortly after and I stumbled across a pair of Oxynoe bubble snails. In May last year I began to see all these species around Beaumaris, so perhaps they are seasonal. It would make sense that they peak when the weed is in full bloom, after the summer warmth.
Other highlights were Painted Dragonets, some very territorial Tasmanian Blennies and a lovely patch of finger-like sponges that emerge from the sand. I cannot recall what these are named!
Night snorkel at Quiet Corner
It’s not often conditions are ideal for a nigh snorkel but light easterly winds were forecast, so we headed to Quiet Corner and were in the water for an hour and a half after last light at 8:15PM. It took a little while for the planktonA soup of micro-organisms. Usually refers to all the zooplankton and algae in the ocean but can also be used to describe tiny insects in the atmosphere (see aerial plankton). More to start emerging but when it did, we found one of two tiny Southern Bobtail squid. Juvenile Sand Flathead were fun, as well as a pretty white flatworm and a pair of Widebody Pipefish. These appear to have been quite scarce this year, so they were nice to find.
