COMMENTS & OBSERVATIONS

A strong wind warning was issued for Sunshine Coast waters, however it was from a west to south-westerly direction. Mudjimba Island was selected as the preferred destination being less than a nautical mile offshore and we could anchor in the lee of any wind. Upon arriving there the water colour was a milky green with less than 2 metres visibility so we headed out to the nearest Gneering Shoals site – The Trench on the Inner Gneerings. We had good conditions for the trip out, first dive and surface interval however we surfaced from the second dive into 20 knots of southerly wind. The short trip back to harbour was not too bad as the right speed for the conditions was selected. We dived on the western ledge of the Trench enjoying reasonable visibility. There were plenty of sea slugs to photograph including quite a few that aren’t often sighted. These included: Ardeadoris angustolutea, Bornella stellifer and Phyllodesmium sp. 2. A different phyllidiid was found that we believe matches Phyllidiella hageni reasonable well. Also a Diversidoris that is different to our existing Diversidoris sp. 1 was found, being yellow in mantle colour with pustules on the dorsum. It will be our Diversidoris sp. 3. A trip back there to search the southern ledge might be worthwhile.

Taxonomic Diversity:
Twenty of the thirty-two species sighted were dorids (almost two-thirds the total) comprising only 1 x phanerobranch, 5 x porostomes (all belonging to Phyllidiidae) and 14 x cryptobranchs (all belonging to Chromodorididae). The other 12 species comprised 4 x aeolids, 5 x dendronotids, 1 x pleurobranch and 1 x umbrella-shelled slug.

Our Historical Data:
– This survey is number 16 at this site since 27/06/2011
– Last surveyed on 29/10/2020
– 97 species have been recorded here
– 8 first time sightings were recorded for this site including 2 we have classed as new species for the Sunshine Coast (See below).

Key to symbols
+++ New Species
+ First time sighted at this site
# Most commonly sighted at this site with %

TOTAL SPECIES SIGHTED: 32

DIVE IMAGES GALLERY

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