Sea Pen

I went snorkelling yesterday, but forgot to put the SD card back in my camera.  Fortunately my camera has  the ability to store 3 pictures without a card, so I was still able to take this picture of what I believe is a Sea Pen.

Beating the heat in Perth

Perth is currently experiencing a bit of a heat wave; temperatures have been consistently above 40 for about the last week.

A sign on a small shop in the Downtown Core

January 26th was Australia Day (Also know as Survival Day, Invasion Day, or Dominion Day, as it celebrates not the independence or confederation of Australia but the arrival of the "first fleet"). It was another scorcher of a day, reaching about 45 degrees. I spent the afternoon on the beach with a group of friends, and as the evening progressed large storm clouds rolled in to the north and east. After dark we got to see a spectacular light show of the Australia Day fireworks combined with a distant lightning storm. It was spectacular to see, but unfortunately I was unable to get any pictures.

Bubbles catching the sunset

Australia Day Sunset

Snorkelling, South Beach dog beach, Fremantle, Western Australia.

A Blue Swimmer Crab in ready to defend itself.

Same crab burying itself in the sand.

A different crab has found itself quite the prize.

 

An Estuary Catfish (Cnidoglanis macrocephalu). This fish was obviously struggling.  I am not sure whether the damage was physical trauma or some form of disease. There was another snorkeler in the area who was fishing with a spear, I pointed him in the right direction in the hopes that he might be able to put it out of its misery.

Underwater 3

Another trip to Cottesloe, unfortunately the visibility was pretty low and only one of my under water pictures turned out.

What I believe is a species of smooth boxfish.

Here is a sign showing some of the various species that one might see around Cottesloe:

RIP Dixie

You will be missed.

More underwater test shots including video.

Taken January 14th, 2012 at Swimmer's Beach, Fremantle, WA

Underwater Pictures - Test Run

Today I went to the beach and put the waterproof camera that my lovely sister gave me for christmas to the test. There was definitely a bit of a learning curve with taking pictures under water, and the visibility was not great as it was a windy day, but here are some of the first pictures that actually worked out. This was just taken at the local beach where there was not a lot to see, hopefully I will get to Cottesloe soon where there is a greater diversity of fish species.

Whitetail

Looks like spider season is in full swing.  I have found two Whitetails and a Redback in the house over the last few days.  White tails are as venomous as Redbacks, only they are free roaming predators, so can be pretty much anywhere, and they are very fast as well.  These are why one is supposed to check inside ones shoes before putting them on. There are also unsubstantiated tales of Whitetail bites causing extensive tissue necrosis.

12 Hours in Japan

Here are some of my pictures from Japan. This post is a work in progress and I will likely add some captions at a later date.