“This animal is looking at you and you know they are thinking and they are trying to figure out what you are” – Brian Skerry

Southern Right Whales off the coast of New Zealand

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On Monday night, I attended a talk at Global Dive’s monthly club night about molluscs.
Admittedly, I had only gone for the nudibranchs section but I walked away with a new appreciation for shells – and a great deal of respect for the Cone Shell.
Martin said he would show us why we had been warned not to pick up the shells – personally I had not heard this but after seeing this video, I thought I would go away and find out more .. especially as the shells had made an appearance on World’s Deadliest Creatures – Australia edition.
Did we even have these shells in our waters?

It turns out we do.
Cone shells have been spotted in Northland – specifically in Deep Water Cove.  In 2009, Alan Morrison photographed a cone shell 300m from where the wreck of the HMNZS Canterbury lies.  The Northern Advocate printed the photograph that Alan took – here

Cone shells are large predatory sea snails – molluscs.

The danger to human’s comes from their harpoon which is used to snare fish.  If we pick up the shells, the harpoon can pierce our gloves and/or wetsuit.  The venom from the shell can kill a human in 20 minutes.
Research in to the venom shows that it is possible that it could be used as a non addictive pain releiever – almost 1000 times more powerful than morphine.

If you do see these shells, please don’t touch them!

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It is found in the Indo-Pacific ocean – as far north as Japan and as far south as the Poor Knights Islands.

Roboastra luteolineata on kelp (The Canyons, Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve - 2011)

Roboastra luteolineata moves quite quickly and is a cannibalistic nudibranch – consuming Tambja verconis and Tambja morosa.
This is relatively common behaviour for the Roboastra genus.  They actively hunt out other nudibranchs.

Roboastra luteolineata is often confused with Tambja affinis

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I have recently updated my post on the Moray Eels of New Zealand and have turned it in to a guest post over at Book Your Dive.

It was a nice change to write a guest post.
I’ve asked a couple of people to write some guest posts here in return.

I’m looking forward to some fresh new content and some different perspectives.

In the mean time, hopefully the water is starting to warm up!

Dive safe,

Dive Mistress

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The Northern Advocate has a story today about Blue Whales near Tutukaka on Saturday:

Just weeks ago the Tutukaka coast was named one of the top three coastlines in the world and on Saturday one of the reasons why was on full display less than 1km from shore – three massive blue whales enjoying a cruise north.

Last month, National Geographic Traveller magazine said the Tutukaka Coast was one of the top three coastlines in the world, partly because of its abundance of wildlife.

And on Saturday trippers on a Dive Tutukaka boat saw first-hand that marine life in action as a pod of three blue whales – the world’s largest animals – cruised north at a speedy eight to nine knots.

It was a rare sighting with Northland orca researcher and whale expert Ingrid Visser saying this was the first confirmed sighting of blue whales off the Tutukaka Coast for about 10 years and there had only been three in the past 20, although they are more commonly seen in the Bay Of Islands.

Dr Visser spotted the blue whales from her home while talking to staff from Dive Tutukaka who were on the water on their boat, which has a permit to approach marine mammals, caught up with the whales. One of the passengers, Kevin MacMillan, took photographs from about 100m away.

The smaller of the three whales was estimated to have been about 15m while the largest was about 25-30m.

Rare Sighting: Three blue whales seen cruising off the Tutukaka Coast on Saturday. Photo / Kevin Macmillan

Blue whales grow up to 33m long and weigh up to 180 tonnes, with their tongues alone weighing as much as an elephant. They can live to be up to 80 years old.

Dr Visser said she spotted the whales about 800 to 900m off shore and as soon as she saw “the blow” – water spurting from the whales’ blow hole – she knew what they were.

“There’s nothing else that blows like a blue whale,” she said.

Dr Visser would normally be straight out on to the water for such a rare event, but a broken boat left her frustratingly watching the mammals from land.

“I’ve got two whale researchers with me and they haven’t seen blue whales, but we couldn’t get out,” she said.

Dr Visser said there had been reports in the past few weeks of blue whales in the Hauraki Gulf. She will check photographs of those whales to see if they are the same ones seen off Tutukaka.

Kate Malcolm, from Dive Tutukaka, said it was another example of just why the Tutukaka Coast had such a good reputation.

“In the past few weeks we’ve had orca surfing in the waves at Sandy Bay and pods of dolphins everywhere cavorting with people, a pod of about 50 pilot whales just off the coast and now blue whales,” Ms Malcolm said.

“Another fantastic example of the Tutukaka Coast, and perhaps an example of why a Marine National Park would be a good idea.”

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Jason Mirabilis, an aeolid nudibranch, can be found through out New Zealand.

Jasons Mirabilis / Photograph Diane Alexander

In the last few years that I have been diving at the Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve, I have been looking and looking and looking and looking for one.  I hear of a few people seeing them from time to time and I hear the stories where people say that once they were prolific.

Well it appears that sightings are becoming more common – and I have finally found my first one.
A tiny tiny one at that.

Jason Mirabilis  grow to around 55mm.
They are most often found feeling on hydriods as shown in the image from the Sea Slug Forum to the right and the photograph I took, last weekend, below.

Whilst you might not think that these beautiful sea slugs have any form of protection, as with most brightly and beautifully coloured creatures, they can take care of themselves.  Jason’s devour the hydroid and then incorporate the stinging cells into the cerata (the white growths) all over their body.
Anything attempting to eat a Jasons receives a dose of poison.

Jason Mirabilis at Cave Bay / Photograph by Tara Sutherland

References:

• The Sea Slug Forum – Jason mirabilis.
• Treasures of the Sea – Bivalves and Gastropods

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Playtime or dinnertime … diver Kirisimasi Foaga didn’t know which it was as six orcas swam towards him and nudged him.

And he wasn’t hanging around to find out.

The Mangere man was spear-fishing in Murrays Bay on the North Shore on Saturday when the sea giants saw him.

The terrified fisherman, who at first thought he was being stalked by a huge shark, was spotted frantically swimming away by a boat crew and pulled to safety.

“About six of them came straight to me,” he said. “Maybe they wanted to play, but it was scary.

“They were very close to me. They touched me, but I didn’t touch them.”

Earlier in the week, residents of Army Bay on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula watched from a clifftop as 20 or 30 orcas closed in on two snorkellers.

The biggest orca – which witnesses said was about 7m long – left the pod and swam towards the snorkellers, one of whom cut himself scrambling onto a rock.

Orca researcher Dr Ingrid Visser said it was unlikely the orcas in either case intended to hurt the men.

She said they were probably curious about Mr Foaga, and she suspected the snorkellers happened to be in the path of a pod hunting stingrays.

via Time to leave as orcas play – National – NZ Herald News.

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Most of the time they are tucked into a hole or crevice with only their eyes and mouth in view and will sit very very patiently while I flash bright lights in front of them.  Sometimes, they are out and about but usually it seems they are moving in the opposite direction from me!

I love their expressions; the softer, more innocent smiling Grey Moray to the aggressive long snout and evil eye of the Mosaic Moray.

New Zealand Moray Eels

Moray eels hide in the crevices of reefs, in small holes and gaps between rocks and boulders and occasionally have been sighted in kelp.  We do not often see them swimming freely.  As I mentioned previously, we do sometimes see them swimming up and down in the walls – often in the opposite direction from divers.

A Moray eel is a vertebrate – or a “bony fish” however the number of bones in the skull is dramatically decreased from that of fish.
Continuous dorsal and anal fins propel the Moray eel through the water, enabling it to move quickly but not for lengthy amounts of time.  However the speed at which a Moray eel can propel itself backwards has to be seen to be believed!  The extension and malleability of its body is more suited to tucking into crevices and holes and then sitting and waiting than free swimming and hunting.
The Moray eel is also covered in a mucus.

Moray eels will wait until their prey is close enough and then they will lunge out and clamp their jaws around their intended prey – most often fish, molluscs and crustaceans.  They are opportunistic omnivores – catching what they can!

Moray eels have extremely small gills with no covering so the sight of a wide mouthed Moray eel in a crevice can be daunting until you understand that the opening and closing of the mouth is not a defensive warning but rather the eel is simply breathing.

As Moray eels tend to retract themselves backwards and hide from humans when we are taking photographs, much patience can be required.  Although Moray eels appear to be vicious and ill-tempered, they cannot see or hear very well and rely on their strong sense of smell.
If you are bitten by a Moray eel, the reaction is to jerk your hand backwards which you want to avoid.  This will cut you further and some species have backwards facing teeth which prevent its prey from escaping from its mouth.
Some Moray eels carry bacteria on their teeth and parasites from other fish or microbes from the water.  Secondary infection is possible so clean the wound, disinfect it, keep it dry and seek medical advice.

Moray eels are most active at night.  If you are night diving near boulders, cracks, rocks or crevices, have patience and wait in the same spot for a small period of time.  Chances are you will see one of the following out and about.

There are five species of Moray eel found in the north-eastern part of New Zealand;

small Yellow Moray

Yellow

The Yellow Moray (Gymnothorax prasinus) is New Zealand’s most common Moray – however it is not found in the South Island and is apparently less common at the Poor Knights Islands.  Yellow Morays feed mainly on crustaceans and actually use cleaner shrimp to ensure that their teeth are clean and free from parasites.
The colour can vary from green-yellow to yellow to a brown-yellow and some eels can have extremely blue eyes.
People have been able to handle the Yellow Moray eel as it is not typically known as  ‘biter’ however I believe that we should only be handling these creatures if it is absolutely necessary.
More than once we have seen and photographed a Yellow Moray sharing a spot with another Moray which is contrary to the belief that Morays will defend “their” spot.
Yellow Moray generally grow to around 150 centimeters.

Grey Moray

Grey

The Grey Moray (Gymnothorax nubilus) looks to be the most placid.

It is the smallest and most slender of New Zealand’s Moray eels and has a distinctive dorsal fin which is rather tall for its relative size.
It has a much longer snout and is overall much narrower than a Yellow Moray for instance and is therefore more suited to probing into narrow cracks and fissures to find its prey of crabs and shrimps and very small fish.
Grey Morays can often be found in places such as tube sponges or entwined in kelp.  Sometimes, they can be seen in a refuge with another species and often, Grey Morays are found with Scorpion Fish.|
Grey Morays generally grow to around 100 centimeters.

Spotted / Mottled Moray

Spotted / Mottled

The Spotted (or Mottled) Moray (Gymnothorax prionodon) is most common further north.  Relatively uncommon at the Poor Knights Islands, they are more often found near the Cavalli Islands.
The Spotted Moray has a dark snout and very clear white spots.  It also has long jaws similar to the Mosaic Moray.
It is difficult to photograph.  Unfortunately artifical light seems to ruin the camouflage effect that the spots can have and the light also changes the colours of the eel so that it appears very light brown instead of the dark and more natural colour that can sometimes obscure the spots.
Spotted Moray generally grow to around 100 centimeters.

Mosaic Moray

Mosaic

The Mosaic Moray (Enchelycore ramosa) looks fierce as it is always seen with its mouth wide open – this is because the Mosaic Moray has teeth in the roof of its mouth and is therefore unable to close it fully.
It is a very big and strong eel.  Octopus have been sighted as being a meal of the Mosaic Moray on occasion.
Often seen in ghostly white, when the Mosaic Moray is olive-green it is quite well hidden.
A dramatic photography subject, the Mosaic Moray will stay in the same place for a long time and does not appear to be affected by strobe lights.
Mosaic Moray can grow to 180 centimeters.

Speckled Moray

Speckled / Mottled

The Speckled Moray or Mottled Moray (Gymnothorax obsesus) is one of the largest Moray eels in New Zealand waters.
It has a large but short and stocky snout and very strong jaws.
Speckled Morays have been observed to be very aggressive towards each other.  Obsesus in name and stance, it has been reported that two of these enormous Moray eels were sighted locked in furious combat.
The Speckled Moray feeds mainly on small fish as well as crustaceans.
Speckled Morays grow to around 200 centimeters.

There are some people/persons who feel comfortable enough to stroke and even to feed Moray eels – not just in New Zealand but around the world.

I prefer to observe and photograph without initiating non-natural behaviours and I am glad I stick to that policy especially when there is video evidence such as this that nature does not always understand our ‘good’ intentions ….

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