Old joke: How do lionfish mate?

Lionfish interrupted

Very carefully.

The logistics seem difficult with all those spines… but I might have disturbed a tender moment between two poisonous, beautiful fish.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pull up to Jackson’s bar

How many different species do you see?

A riot of life surrounding a barrel sponge

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Not exactly the picture of vibrant reef…

Distressing

Meet a reef under stress, bleached and covered with brown algae. The reasons are varied and uncertain, but all have a central element: man.

The condition of this section of Minerva’s Ledge is likely due to some combination of warming waters, acidification and nutrient runoff. All three stress the ecosystem and the coral and favor the algae that is now killing the reef.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

A reef destroying invasive species…

Nightmare starfish

…that isn’t man. Let me introduce you to a Crown of Thorns, A voracious and difficult to destroy starfish, owing to its spiny carapace and neurotoxin defense. Rumors also abound that slicing it up causes it to regenerate in Hydra fashion, but that’s not exactly true.

They are the subject of campaigns to control or eliminate them, as they’re destroying reefs in many parts of the world, as they eat live coral. Australia has been particularly hit, though I’ve seen plenty in the Andamans.

Theories as to why they’re spreading include human-caused reductions in their natural predators and algal blooms (caused by fertilizer runoff) providing alternative food sources to the fish that might otherwise eat starfish larva.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Toxic beauty…

Lionfish

Lionfish at Minerva’s Ledge.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

What oceans look like when we don’t take all the fish…

Abundance for the time being...

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Tucked away, waiting for dark

Shy

What I presume is another type of feather star, hiding away until dark when it will unfold and feed.

Tags: , , , , , , ,