How many animals?
Tuesday challenge: How many animal species can you spot? Hint: coral, sponges and sea squirts are all animals! We love finding such a diverse ecosystem on the NSW South Coast.
Red Morwong
These striking fish, gracefully suspended in the blue waters off the NSW coast, are Red Morwong. We were pleasantly surprised to see this calm and colourful school, and that our ROV was close enough to illuminate the eye-catching patterns across their faces.
Green Moray Eel
This resident Green Moray Eel greeted our ROV on a dive in Batemans Bay, NSW not long ago. Green Moray Eels are just one of more than 160 different species of Moray Eel around the world. Believe it or not, this green eel is not actually green – it is brown in colour. The bright yellow or green colour we see is due to a mucus that covers its body to protect it from parasites and injury from the rough surroundings of reefs and shorelines in which it lives. Maybe it should be known as Slimy Green Moray Eel?
Underwater Archaeology in Australia
Check out our short video about some of the rivers, gardens and gorges hidden under the waves of Batemans Bay
We continue to explore amazing Batemans Bay on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, especially as life has slowed a bit with recent lock-down restrictions. The video in the link below shows some land-based features that must have submerged as the sea level rose over the last 20,000 years, and some of the life inhabiting those areas now.
https://www.facebook.com/undersearovAUS/videos/1686125375111379