JadeCraven.Org – Page 3 – My Nature Blog

Marine Life Under Floating Pontoon at Apollo Bay Harbour

Jade Craven · April 13, 2024 ·

Red Rock Crab

Seth loves fishing. I don’t, I find it icky and feel sorry for the fish. However, many fishing spots tend to have interesting marine critters.

This post shares photos of marine life found under one of the floating pontoons that people fish from. There was a healthy variety of marine life, but nowhere near as prolific as St Helens. I got photos of this area in 2018 using the GoPro, but at that point I wasn’t into sea squirts.

This was the first time I’d visited Apollo Bay since getting the Olympus TG. I was going to see sea squirts!

We did have a lot of luck with the sea squirts. But also found other cool speccies.

Colonial Ascidians At St Helens Boat Ramp: April 11

Jade Craven · April 12, 2024 ·

I had a quick look under the floating pontoons at St Helens yesterday to check how the botryllids were doing. I’m glad I did; it seems that the Erythropodium hicksoni is retreating and other marine life if growing in its place. These photos are mediocre as I’m still trying to figure out the best settings, but they show the variety of ascidians.

There looks to be a lot variety within the species themselves. I wish I was trained to collect samples – it would be so fascinating to explore this further 🙂

Marine Critters At St Helens Boat Ramp

Jade Craven · April 12, 2024 ·

These photos were taken yesterday before we went to Queenscliffe for the marine biology cruise. We spent about 80 minutes here in the morning.

Seth found all of these species. They were found next to the main boat ramp. This is the area where Seth seems to find the best stuff. Unfortunately, it isn’t where the good ascidians are.

I had a lot of fun here though finding different marine life.

Looking For Marine Life at Queenscliffe Boat Ramp

Jade Craven · April 11, 2024 ·

The marine biology cruise finished at 3pm, so we had a bit of time to spend in Queenscliffe. We had a lot of luck previously in the nearby harbour, so I was keen to see what species we could find.

I wasn’t able to look as comprehensively as I would have like. There are a group of pelicans that love hanging around the area. They were either on a boat ramp, or the ramp was covered with their poop. And pelican poop is considerably larger – and messier – than seagull poo.

We found a nice variety of marine life. The camera settings are still very hit and miss when it comes to focus. I think I need to step back and learn how to use it properly! Queenscliff is also on the Bellarine, so the water moves a more than somewhere like St Helens.

I’m not going to try to identify these species due to photo quality. I think the spot is useful for marine biologists, but it isn’t somewhere I would visit. I’ll check out more parts of the harbour next trip.

Marine Biology Cruise: Autumn 2024

Jade Craven · April 11, 2024 ·

Finally! A marine biology cruise out on Port Phillip Bay where the weather was mild.

Seth and I first went on a marine biology cruise in 2019. We loved it and thoroughly enjoyed getting a closer look at the type of life we normally wouldn’t find. We were keen to return to see what creatures we could find now that we were more knowledgeable. I tried to share that experience with Glenn in 2022, but we ended up getting saturated.