Monday, September 21, 2015

Species List: La Balsa Park, Mooloolah River, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, 19-09-2015

11 species sighted at La Balsa Park, Mooloolah River, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Julie, Terry and David on this single shore entry dive of 115 minutes. Maximum depth 6.0 m, 21 C water temperature and 1-2 m viz.

The visibility on this dive was a disappointment with a heavy silt load obstructing not only our search of the substrate but even a decent view of our camera viewfinders. This may be partly due to a change in our approach to the way we dive in the river tidal current. Most usually we work into the tide and thereby any disturbance of the silt is carried away behind us but this time in order to search a different stretch of the river we were obliged to work with the current and suffered by taking the silt disturbance along with us, a situation that only deteriorated further as the current slowed. Lesson re-learnt. The Doto was a nice find being first spotted through the presence of its egg mass.

Number of species sighted
* Species with highest specimen count

Atys sp. 6   -1
Bulbaeolidia alba   -1
Doto sp. 3   -5
Elysia cf. furvacauda   -1
Goniodoridella savignyi   -1
Goniodoridella sp. 1   -1
Gymnodoris sp. 9   -7
Gymnodoris sp. 10   -1
Trinchesia sp. 24   -2
Trinchesia yamasui   -1
* Unidentia angelvaldesi   -33+

Elysia cf. furvacauda

Doto sp. 3

Unidentia angelvaldesi

Bulbaeolidia alba

Trinchesia yamasui

Goniodoridella savignyi 

Trinchesia sp. 24

Gymnodoris sp. 9

Goniodoridella sp. 1