COMMENTS & OBSERVATIONS

The south-easterly winds have arrived and Horseshoe Bay is suitable for Body Boarding and Rose Bay looks good for longboard surfing, which meant Grays Bay was the only calm location. The visibility looked okay in the shallows, as is often the case. Once we moved out a bit and descended the visibility was limited by the huge volume of suspended particles. We persevered anyway as we found the reef and followed it north.

Terry found two Hypseldoris tryoni early on in the dive which raised our hopes. However, these were dashed as even staring intently at algae covered rocks failed to yield any more species. The further north we went the worse the visibility became until it was difficult to see the substrate so we decided to turn around and head back. Although a very short dive by our standards we were happy to have actually found one species (which we have not seen at this site before) and noted that much of the coral is looking very healthy despite the silt.

Taxonomic Diversity:
Only two specimens of a single cladobranch nudibranch were sighted.

Our Historical data:
– We have now completed 10 surveys at Grays Bay since our first survey here on 26/04/2023.
– We have recorded 18 species at this site.
– Our most frequently recorded species here are Doriprismatica atromarginata (40%), Hypselodoris roo (30%),  Plakobranchus ocellatus (30%), and Chromodoris lineolata (30%).
– The most abundant species recorded by us at this site are Stylocheilus sp. 01 (99/dive – inflated because of the large number sighted on one dive), Plakobranchus ocellatus (1.7 per dive), Doriprismatica atromarginata (1.1 per dive), Hypselodoris roo (0.6 per dive).
– This is the first time we have recorded Hypselodoris tryoni at this site.
(Historical data courtesy of Terry Farr, who extracts it from his comprehensive database.)

– Guide to Symbols:
+++ New Species
+ First time sighted in Whitsundays
# Most commonly sighted at this site with %

TOTAL SPECIES SIGHTED: 1

DIVE IMAGES GALLERY

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