COMMENTS & OBSERVATIONS

With the winds still too strong for boating we headed off early and checked out Horseshoe Bay and Rose Bay, however the chop and swell at these sites would have made shallow macro photography difficult. Despite the expected low viz. and silt we decided to jump in again at Grays Bay – a crappy dive is better than no dive – right???. Visibility started off quite good but decreased again as we headed further north. The limited visibility forces you to focus intently on the substrate and in doing so we managed to find a very respectable 8 different species, including the Chromodoris lineolata first recorded by us on Friday night.

Of the 8 species recorded, 5 (Baeolidia variabillis, Dendrodoris nigra,Doriprismatica atromarginata, Gymnodoris nigricolor and  Plakobranchus ocellatus) are new additions to our list for this region. 

Taxonomic Diversity:
Five of the eight species sighted were nudibranchs, with 4 being dorids comprising 1 x phanerobranch (non-retractile gill), 1 x porostome (suctorial feeder),  2 x cryptobranchs (retractable gill) and 1 was a cladobranch comprising 1 x aeolid, 0 x dendronotinid, 0 x arminid. 3 x sacoglossans complete the species count. If diet is considered only 3 of the 8 species sighted were spongivores.

Our Historical data:
We have now recorded 12 species in our 5 surveys at this site since our first on 26/04/2023.

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

TOTAL SPECIES SIGHTED: 8

DIVE IMAGES GALLERY

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