Tweed Heads & Cook Island Byron Bay Ballina
South West Rocks Port Macquarie Lord Howe Island Norfolk Island
North Haven Forster-Seal Rocks Port Stephens
Newcastle-Swansea Central Coast - Terrigal Sydney North
Sydney South Wollongong to Kiama Jervis Bay Uladulla
Bateman's Bay Narooma-Montague Island Tathra Merimbula
The warm northerly and cooler southerly currents which mingle in the seas off the Solitary Islands have brought a fascinating mixture of tropical and temperate marine species to the area.
Around the five Solitary Islands, and a few nearby rocky reefs, there are gardens of hard and soft corals; some species are usually found only on the Great Barrier Reef. The area surrounding these islands is so rich in marine life that it was declared a marine reserve in 1991.
Manta Rays Manta birostris are often sighted around the Solitary Islands feeding in the surface waters, or on the deeper reefs being cleaned by cleanerfish.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
The Solitary Islands are accessible from Coffs Harbour or Mulloway, both of which have dive shops. Divers can reach the northern Solitary Island from Mulloway, and the southern islands of the group from Coffs Harbour.
These islands are bathed by clear blue ocean currents most of the time and provide brilliant diving year round. The local dive operators have moorings at all their sites to prevent damage to the delicate corals.
During Summer months Spanish Dancers Hexabranchus sanguineus can be seen along the darker walls and in the many sponge encrusted caves. The 'dance' that these nudibranchs perform is actually an escape response.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
The Solitary Islands are riddled with caves and overhangs and ledges and it is by investigating these that local divers have found numbers of new species. When searching these areas an underwater torch is a must.
I was on the team that did the initial fauna surveys in the 1970's in conjunction with New South Wales Fisheries. Since then a great deal of work has been done in establishing comprehensive flora and fauna lists and a wealth of images.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
The Coffs Harbour area is a busy holiday destination. Tourists visit the Pet Porpoise Pool and the Big Banana, enjoy white-water rafting on the Nymboida River, bushwalk in the national parks, and relax on the many uncrowded beaches. The area has an extensive range of accommodation, from 4-star resorts to basic motels, and many good restaurants and takeaways.
The rocky reefs are a smorgasboard of marine life, often all piled up seeking the highest point to take advantage of the rich plankton. Sea urchins occupy every hollow and crevice. Each individual rock has its own specific make up and no two are the same.
The only problem with the Solitary Islands is that there is so much country to cover that even 4 dives a day only covers a miniscule part of whats out there.( photo: Neville Coleman)
North West Rock
The rugged terrain and currents attract masses of fish life to North West Rock. A crevice splitting the rock is fun to explore, but the best diving is in the deep gutters on the eastern side. Here you will regularly sight pelagic fish, eagle rays, wobbegongs, blue gropers, red morwong, stingrays and the occasional grey nurse shark. The western side has pretty coral gardens, with reef fish and invertebrates.
Although the epicentre of its range is around Lord Howe Island the Splendid Hawkfish Cirrhitus splendens is regularly seen around the Solitary Island and reefs adjacent to the northern coast of New South Wales.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
North Solitary Island
The terrain around North Solitary Island is very diverse. Along the western and northern sides are numerous gutters covered in lush coral gardens, while the eastern and southern sides offer drop-offs, pinnacles and pelagic fish. Anemone Bay, at the northern end of the island, has an unusually large concentration of marine life. Here the bottom is literally carpeted with anemones, attended by three species of anemonefish. At depths of 10-20 m, divers will find abundant hard and soft corals, and masses of tropical fish. Turtles, stingrays, moray eels, wobbegongs and leopard sharks are seen in the bay during the summer months. Other sites around North Solitary feature grey nurse sharks, schools of kingfish and trevally, and eagle rays.
Some cave walls are covered in clumps of Faulkner's Stony Coral Tubastrea faulkneri. This beautiful golden polyps of this species are generally only seen out at night but at the Solitaries the caves are so dark that in some the polyps feed during the daylight hours. ( photo: Neville Coleman)
North West Solitary Island
Divers enjoy the gutters, caves, pinnacles and ledges at North West Solitary, but the most popular spot is Manta Reef on the western side of the island. Cut by a series of gutters in 6-22 m of water, this reef is covered with corals and sponges, and is home to an incredible range of invertebrates and tropical fish. Each summer manta rays visit the reef, hovering to be cleaned by the resident cleaner wrasse, and swimming circles around spellbound divers.
Spiky Soft Corals Dendronephthya sp. abound in the deeper water. These vibrant colonies hide minature egg cowries, soft coral crabs, squat lobsters and shrimps amongst their many fronds.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
South West Solitary Island
South West Solitary, one of the least dived islands, has some of the thickest hard coral growths of the Solitary Island. The eastern side has many ledges and gutters inhabited by turtles and reef fish. Along the western side grows a luxuriant coral garden harbouring a great variety of marine life.
Hardly noticed by most divers, large colonies of zoanthids Protopalythoa sp. occur on the more exposed sides of reefs and rocks. These colonial animals are relatives of Stony Corals but they have no skeletons and are all connected to each other by their attachment sheet. ( photo: Neville Coleman)
Black Rock
At Black Rock, a small pinnacle of rock is all that appears above the surface. Beneath the surface, the monolith drops from 10-25 m, its walls and deep gutters are blanketed in sponges, soft corals and anemones. Blue gropers, wobbegongs, trevally, kingfish, jewfish, surgeonfish, red morwong and grey nurse sharks are just some of the marine residents.
A resident of caves and ledges the Coral Cod Cephapholis miniatus is a prominent member of the Solitary Island's fish fauna. It is a very successful predator on smaller fishes. ( photo: Neville Coleman)
South Solitary Island
South Solitary Island is spectacular above and below the surface. Its rocky walls drop steeply from 10-30 m and many interesting dive sites are located along these drop-offs. The most popular site is the Shark Gutters at the northern end of the island, at depths between 18-23 m, where grey nurse sharks gather each winter and spring. Divers are able to get quite close to the sharks if they stay quietly at the edge of the channels. The sharks share the gutters with turtles, wobbegongs, moray eels, kingfish, jewfish, trevally, blue gropers, lionfish and eagle rays.
White Black Corals Antapathes sp. are very common throughout the Solitary Islands and amongst their branches one can often find the Graceful Spindle Cowry Phenacovolva gracilis. These little molluscs spend their entire lives on their host, feeding on the fleshy external skin of the colony and laying their eggs on it.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Marsh Shoal
One of a number of hidden reefs in the area, this boulder reef drops from 12-20 m and is covered in kelp, hard coral, soft coral, gorgonians, sponges and ascidians. Numerous small reef fish are found on the shoal. Search carefully for egg cowries, Spanish dancers, shrimp, sea stars, anemones, nudibranchs, feather stars and other invertebrates.
The Solitary Islands abound with many species of nudibranchs, with over 100 species being recorded. This beautiful little White-edged Noumea Noumea alboannulata grows to 25 mm and occurs throughout the Indo - Pacific and feeds on sponges.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Split Solitary Island
Split Solitary is surrounded by rocky gutters and drop-offs lined with plate corals, soft corals, sponges, gorgonians and ascidians. These coral gardens are home to tropical fish, blind sharks, red morwong, cuttlefish, octopi, moray eels, wobbegongs, nudibranchs, blue gropers and other species. Depths vary from 10-20 m, and the visibility averages about 10 m.
Primarily a tropical species, the Cardinal Goatfish Parupenus ciliatus is very common in the waters of Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island and is also regularly seen around the Solitary Islands and adjacent coastal reefs. It may be seen a sa solitary, or in schools , or small groups.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
More common at the Solitary Islands than anywhere within its range, the Costellate Egg Cowry Ovula costellata feeds on soft corals. It has a black-lined white foot with a white mantle covered with orange pustules. It grows to around 50 mm and has been recorded as far south as Sydney. ( photo: Neville Coleman)
Tweed Heads & Cook Island Byron Bay Ballina
South West Rocks Port Macquarie Lord Howe Island Norfolk Island
North Haven Forster-Seal Rocks Port Stephens
Newcastle-Swansea Central Coast - Terrigal Sydney North
Sydney South Wollongong to Kiama Jervis Bay Uladulla
Bateman's Bay Narooma-Montague Island Tathra Merimbula
Neville Coleman's diving expeditions, fauna surveys, photographic fauna surveys and marine life identification courses include every major group of marine life.
Neville Coleman's expertise in living taxonomy and marine life identification extends to the identification of Algae, Sea Grass, Mangroves, Forams, Sponges, Stony Corals, Soft Corals, Sea Anemones, Sea Jellies, Zoanthids, Corallimorphs, Black Corals, Flatworms, Segmented Worms, Crustaceans, Barnacles, Shrimps, Rock Lobsters, Hermit Crabs, Squat Lobsters, Molluscs, Chitons, Univalves, Bivalves, Cephalopods, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Squid, Opisthobranchs, Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs, Bryozoans, Sea Mosses, Echinoderms, Sea Stars, Feather Stars, Brittle Stars, Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, Ascidians/Sea Squirts, Marine Fish, Sharks, Marine Reptiles, and Marine Mammals, all found in the waters around Coff's harbour and the Solitary Islands.
( Copyright Neville Coleman/Nigel Marsh)
