Posts By: Steve Reynolds
June 26, 2017
The comb jelly Bolinopsis
I took this ‘one off’ shot of a clear jelly during my dive at Moonta Bay jetty in June: – I posted the photo on the Facebook page for “I Friggin’ Love Jellyfish”, with the comment “Saw this clear ‘jelly’ yesterday at Moonta Bay jetty”. Lisa-ann Gershwin soon responded to the post with the comments “Yep, Bolinopsis! Were there a lot around, Steve? This is the same species I’ve been concerned about for years in Spencer Gulf. It occasionally blooms…
Posted in Cnidaria, Invasive species, Marine invertebrates | By Steve Reynolds
June 25, 2017
Our stay at the Moonta Bay Beach Villas
A small group of Society members were able to stay at the Moonta Bay Beach Villas over the weekend recently, thanks to the kindness of Peter Anastassiadis. We were supposed to be a bigger group, but half of the group cancelled out at the last minute due to cold or flu problems. Lyndon and David arrived at the villa on the Friday night. They were soon joined by Haixia Wen. Lyndon was able to do some stand-up paddle boarding by…
Posted in Dive Reports, Jetties | By Steve Reynolds
June 19, 2017
Osedax Worms Update 2
Osedax worms have been found in Australian waters for the first time. Osedax worms are ‘whale’ worms, worms that feed on the bones of dead whales. They were recently found burrowed deep inside the bones of a pilot whale hauled up from a deep-sea abyss off Byron Bay, New South Wales (no pun intended). The skull and spine of the pilot whale were both hauled up from the abyss off Australia’s east coast. Scientists discovered Osedax worms burrowed deep inside…
Posted in Research, Whales & Dolphins, Worms | By Steve Reynolds
June 13, 2017
Congolli, Pseudaphritis urvillii
This fish that I photographed at the Ships’ Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River earlier this year was confirmed on iNaturalist as being a Congolli (Pseudaphritis urvillii). I had reported the sighting of the Congolli in my article titled “Further Discoveries at the Ships Graveyard” at http://mlssa.org.au/2017/03/25/further-discoveries-at-the-ships-graveyard/ I came across another one in Angas Inlet at the Garden Island jetty during a night dive there on 8th June (World Oceans Day). My photos of it were certainly…
Posted in Bony fishes | By Steve Reynolds
June 12, 2017
Shovelnose Stingarees
Fish identification can be tricky at the best of times. Then there are often new species that were not included in the old fish books. And the scientific names of species are often changing, and even changing back again. I recently revisited my 2016 article titled “Same Ray Seen Two Months Apart” (It can be found at http://mlssa.org.au/2016/01/09/same-ray-seen-two-months-apart/). It was about my sighting of a ‘stingray’ with part of its tail missing. I had seen what appeared to be the…
Posted in Sharks & Rays | By Steve Reynolds
May 28, 2017
Turn the Tide on Plastics in the Ocean
On Sunday 28th May, my wife and I attended a gathering at the Largs Bay jetty kiosk. Artist Andrew Baines was conducting one of his famous photo shoots on the beach by the jetty. The photo shoot was being linked to World Ocean’s Day. It was held in collaboration with United Nations Associated of Australia (SA) & the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. Everybody who wanted to take part in the photo shoot had to dress in black and wear…
Posted in Conservation, Events, Pollution, Submissions to Government | By Steve Reynolds
May 22, 2017
Nudibranch name change
According to the web page found at http://www.urgdiveclub.org.au/scientific-names-do-change/ , “two-part scientific names contain a hierarchy which can change if an organism is re-classified”. I wrote about this topic in my article titled “Changes to Seastar Names” at http://mlssa.org.au/2010/10/07/changes-to-seastar-names/ . It can be difficult for ‘hobbyists’ such as ourselves to keep up with the changes for projects such as our Photo Index. It recently came to my attention, thanks to Society member Jeff Bowey, that the red-netted nudibranch previously known as Chromodoris…
Posted in Marine invertebrates, Molluscs, Nudibranchs | By Steve Reynolds
May 10, 2017
Normanville Jetty and Hotspot
David Muirhead says that the Normanville jetty is “a pretty poor excuse for a jetty”. “I have, however, found some surprisingly good photographic subjects on the piles at high tide, which is all the more titillating given the entire jetty can be above the water mark,” he says. (The present jetty is the second Normanville jetty. The first one was a short distance to the south of the current one but, after severe storm damage, it was decided that repairing…
Posted in Bony fishes, Dive Reports, Jetties, Maritime History, Syngnathids | By Steve Reynolds
May 3, 2017
The Rescue of Australian Prisoners of War following US attack on Japanese ships during WWII
In 1944, hundreds of Australian and British prisoners of war (PoW) held by the Japanese were briefly held at the River Valley Road Camp in Singapore. They were then going to be sent to Japan to work in coalmines there. A convoy of eight vessels with PoW onboard left Singapore on 6th September 1944. The vessels in the convoy comprised of the 10,000-ton Kachidoki Maru (formerly the American ship President Harrison), two oil tankers, two cruisers, a corvette, another small…
Posted in Maritime History | By Steve Reynolds
April 30, 2017
South Australians onboard the final voyage of the Titanic
I had a bit of a surprise when I visited the cemetery at the Aldinga Uniting Church recently. I had gone there to photograph the Star of Greece memorial there. Star of Greece memorial (Taken by Steve Reynolds) I found a couple of graves in the name of McRae near the memorial. What caught my eye was a headstone for the McRae family with a reference to the Titanic. The headstone for the McRae family (with a reference to the…
Posted in Maritime History | By Steve Reynolds