OCEAN INFORMATION
November
Australia Wide
Young Silver Gulls with dark bills and legs and brown-spotted wings are now joining the red-billed adults in the feeding flocks, in our parks and along our beaches.
North
Reefs: false trumpet shells & yellow balers exposed on bars; cay nesting of sooty and noddy terns at peak; Moreton Bay bug larvae hitchhike on backs of jellyfish; barracuda leave for deep water; terns diving for small trevally around reefs; skinnyfish, spotted trevally, giant threadfin & turrum swim out to reefs Beach: sargassum weed common; male catfish have mouthfuls of eggs; green & loggerhead turtles come ashore to lay eggs
South
Beach; sea hares lay eggs in rock pools; shearwaters lay first eggs in burrow nests; red jellyfish appear in bays; gulls moult primary feathers, Pilot Whales close to shore; Goose necked barnacles on beach-washed cuttlebones; Tulip Spindle shells lay egg clusters on rock platforms;
December
Australia Wide
Large swarms of dragonflies; skuas, gannets and boobies feeding close to shore
North
Beach: box jellyfish wash out of creeks after rain; large swarms of dragonflies; small prawns are schooling; young tamarinds sprout along the beaches; turtle hatchlings charge to sea Reefs: nesting of crested and lesser terns at peak
South
Beach: saltbushes flower; pipehorses, shark egg cases, sea urchins, by-the-wind sailors (Velella) & blue-bottles (Physalia) are found on beaches; chains of salps in shallow waters on Tasmanian coast; white-fronted terns return from NZ; glassy shrimp hide with young in tunicate tests