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Heishe
I was first introduced to the splendour our southern gorgonian coral two years ago, on one of the rare occasions when we were
able to obtain a boat from which to dive. The anchor was dropped just inside Sydney Harbour at a place called "Old Man's
Hat." The sheer cliffs of North Head towered above us to a height in excess of 200 ft. Below was a world of mystery with its
host of interesting inhabitants.
As we glide down through the depths the light diminishes a little and at 50 ft. dim grey shapes begin to form as the harbour
bed seemingly rises up to meet us. Visibility is about 15 feet and a little eerie due to the silence and the huge misshapen
rocks that have fallen from the cliffs above. The harbour bed itself is covered with a fine silt and when a rock is turned
over it clouds the water. Patience is needed before an investigation of the rock's underside can be made. To my inexperienced
eyes molluscan life at this stage was conspicuous by its absence, although I had managed to find some brachiopods.
While hesitantly rounding a large rock, there, growing down from beneath an overhang, was a growth resembling a sea fan. I
gazed with blinking eyes because it seemed fuzzy and out of focus, yet as I touched it the shape defined itself as the polyps
withdrew. Taking into consideration the fact that this was only my third dive outside of a training pool and my first one
below 40 ft., it would be an understatement to say that I was a little unsure of myself. I had one purpose in mind, to
collect everything I saw of interest and to put them into my bag. This little colony of colour was no exception. Within 15
minutes I had 7 pieces. Then all too soon the restriction of my breathing apparatus announced the unwelcome fact that for
today at least my glimpse into inner space was over. Switching on my reserve I signaled to my companion and we slowly made
our way "upstairs."
The prime areas that had been selected in previous searchings at various North Shore and Waianae Coast locations gradually
became unuseable as the strong winter swells descended on the island. The search, therefore, was directed to newly opened
areas along the South Shore. Some areas off of Waikiki had produced fragments of Strombus hawaiensis previously and,
naturally, they were visited first. The only thing produced on these dives was several Harpa conoidalis occupied by the
hermit crab Dardanus gemmatus. One of these shells was very nearly perfect and so was not such a bad find at all! Photos -
Cross -- Not To Scale
Ventral view of Strombus hawaiensis showing foot, probosis
and eye-stalk structure. The latter differs from conventional
mollusks in that the antennae leave at nearly right angles.
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