A quick snorkel at fossil beach, Beaumaris this morning. I do like this site and the weather was lovely. The water is warm and clear, with visibility probably 10m or more.
One of the more curious but common species that slides about on the sand are the Line-tailed (Headshield) Slugs Tubulophilinopsis lineolata. When I say slide about, they are often buried. You can occasionally see them submerge head first into the sand and disappear completely.
The one today was kind enough to stay out in the open and show off its fine lines and lovely blue-green colouration. I’ve taken the liberty of zooming right in on the face as have amazing eyes. Most sea slugs have black dots for light sensing whereas these guys look at bit more like snail eyes. There is a hint of intelligence which probably explains why they look quite charming.
The Black-margined Sea Slugs were out in force today too. Amazing how I was here just a week ago and only saw a different species. In this article some time back, I explained how a coincidence of environmental factors can lead to huge fluctuation in numbers of any species and helps maintain diversity. These guys today had laid strings of bright yellow eggs on the Caulerpa and were feeding in a small area.
There were also quite a lot of pregnant rays in the shallows, including some lovely Sparsely-spotted Stingarees, which have lovely pale complexion.
Snorkelling at fossil beach, Beaumaris,
To snorkel at fossil beach, Beaumaris, park on Cromer Road and walk down the road towards the Beaumaris Yacht Club. You can either go right to the beach, or left into the boat trailer park. If you do enter from the boat ramps, DO NOT SWIM IN FRONT … climb in from the end of the furthest jetty and swim east keeping the cliffs close to your left. Keep an eye out for fossils ; )
