Dropped in a couple of times today to snorkel at Ricketts Point as the weather was hot. It’s amazing what difference a few days makes. I checked all the Port Jackon Shark caves that were filled with males the other day and found none today. It was only after about a total of three hours of swimming in the afternoon that I stumbled across a cave full of females. There was the usual smattering of Zebrafish and juvenile Snapper.
The best find of the day by far was a juvenile Red Gurnard in the shallows ‘flying’ over the bare sand in front of the sailing club. I’ve never seen one before and I can’t find records from Ricketts Point online. They are a stunning fish that’s normally only seen in the south of the Bay. One to look out for, particularly during night snorkels in the shallows.
If you want to know what it looked like, follow this link to the Australian Museum Page. They can grow to a bout 50cm but the one I saw was about 5cm long.
Throughout the day I found plenty of Tasmanian Blennies. Sometimes they seem scarce and occasionally, like today, seem everywhere. After waiting patiently, they often get quite curious and would come out to feed playfully. Some of them remained firmly in their holes guarding their eggs.
I suspect this is what the Southern Scalyfins were doing too. They lay their eggs on a mossy rock and keep them aerated. Once they are guarding them they tend to be quite territorial about it and stick around to be photographed.
