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Troka
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."
It seemed to be egg laying time for Conus catus, as they were to be found in pairs under many of the rocks sitting next to
their strange looking egg cases. Also to be found were all of the most common varieties of Conus such as flavidus, lividus,
ebraeus, sponsalis, and abbreviatus as well as Cymatium pileare, tuberosum, nicobaricum, and Bursa affinis.
The weather was beautiful, sunny but not too warm, and as we walked along the reef we uncovered numerous eels which always
startled us. As Mrs. Wade turned over one rock, an eel darted out right between my feet. A little shook-up, I decided it was
time for a rest. Resuming our search a little later on Mrs. Wade found a beautiful juvenile C. maculifera. We were also
rewarded with Cypraea helvola, poraria, isabella, and moneta.
If you become a little too ambitious, and try to turn rocks that are larger than you can handle, you may end up sitting in
the water as I did. This provided a good laugh for my loving husband Bob and our ten year old son Patrick, so all was not
lost. Only my dignity.
As is usual when you are enjoying yourself, time passes too fast and we found we had spent almost four hours in this one
small area. We left many rocks unturned for our next trip back. So if you should happen to get there before I do, the shells
are where you find them. Good luck.
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