I had the intention of cleaning up my hard drives but as is often the case I get distracted and waylaid - I came across photos of some of the Aussies animals I have had the pleasure of getting to know and that led me to my theme for January.
Some snorkelling in Sydney about 10 years ago. It was such a thrill to get up close to the beautiful blue gropers - while technically not a Groper, it's actually a species of wrasse native to southeastern Australia and has the common scientific name of: “Eastern Blue Groper”
All Eastern Blue Gropers are born females, and some later change to be males! When they change sex they also change colour!
They are inquisitive and will swim up to snorkellers and divers which sadly has been the demise of some well known locals in Clovelly and Cronulla even though they are protected. Only a few days ago residents believe an illegal spearfisherman in Cronulla may have speared 'Gus', a 35- to 40-year-old blue groper known to swimmers and divers in the area.
I forgot to mention the gorgeous spotted wobbegong shark on the right - and the snorkeller at the back is my youngest daughter - the one who shares my love of wildlife. The orange ovals belong to a wandering sea anemone - unlike other anemones that like to station themselves securely to reefs, this anemone wanders the ocean like an underwater tumbleweed.
Lovely collection of images.
(A saw the news article you refer to!
I used to live in Clovelly in Sydney when about twenty years ago a spearfisherman illegally killed our favourite grouper “Bluey)
I remember reading about Bluey and the Eastern Blue Gropers when I came across them at Clovelly....it saddens and angers me when things like that happen.
The diver shots make me smile, the story of Gus is a sad one, the anemones are interesting and the collage is a great window into your watery world of sea creatures.
(A saw the news article you refer to!
I used to live in Clovelly in Sydney when about twenty years ago a spearfisherman illegally killed our favourite grouper “Bluey)