We went to Beaver Reef. There was a sandy island in the middle of the reef.It had no trees but it was covered in birds. Some of the birds slept on our boat for the night, 2 slept on the rail, 1 slept on the anchor and one slept in the boom. On Hinchinbrook Island we saw some really weird creatures, they looked like sea slugs.
Hi Seb,
Great photos. I think you’ve seen different types of sea slugs or nudibranchs. According to a recent ABC article, sea slugs are migrating south and have been found as far away as Adelaide! Scientists are wondering if they can use nudibranch migration as a marker for climate change/warming seas. There is even a sea slug census project being run by the National Marine Science Centre, with the help of Underwater Volunteers NSW (check out their Facebook page next time you’re in range!).
Nudibranchs seem to be very popular – you can even buy an app for the phone to help with identification. Here is a quote from the ABC article….
“The largest [sea slugs] can be up to 50 centimetres, possibly even bigger. The big Spanish Dancer we get off Coffs Harbour.
“The smallest are so small it’s frustrating. You know they’re there but you can’t see them, so just a few millimetres in size.
“Some are highly cryptic, coloured the same as the habitat they live in [and] then you’ve got the flamboyant ones that are so popular.”
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Thanks for the info i’ll look it up.
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Hi Seb – I am loving seeing all the photos from your trip – what an amazing experience you are having. Bec (Harpers mum)
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We are at Port Douglas to wait until cyclone season is over. Say to Harper congratulations on getting into state in swimming.
sebastian
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Nice coral. I think the weird creatures are mutated slugs and lobsters ‘~’ “0” 😀 😛
. Simon. ^_^
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They are sea cucumbers (mutated vegetables). They are actually animals.
seb
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Ah, nudibranchs!
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