John Turnbull (Marine Explorer) posted these stills on Flickr a while back: –

“Before and After the Floods #marineexplorer

(Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnwturnbull/51114323714/ )

According to the caption for the two stills, “The top shot is a screen grab from a video at Fairlight, Sydney Harbour, in early 2020. The bottom is the same site today, after the extreme weather event and floods. The kelp has been wiped out and replaced by filamentous and red algae, and young urchins.”

The scene was, however, much different some two years later when John posted this follow-up photo: –

(Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnwturnbull/52739783175/in/photolist-2omrb7t )

The caption for this later photo is “After a total wipeout of kelp at Fairlight a couple of years ago, the site has recovered with lush algal beds now.”

The recovery of the kelp beds at the site is remarkable. Our thanks go to John for bringing it to our attention.

By Steve Reynolds

Steve Reynolds is the current President of MLSSA and is a long-standing member of the Society. Steve was a keen diver, underwater explorer & photographer before illness struck. He is chief author of the Society's extensive back catalogue of newsletters and journals.

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