We started seal week off with a favourite pic of mine from Australian Geographic.

Seals are mammals that belong to the order Pinnipedia. 
Pinni = winged        Ped = foot
The order Pinnipedia can be divided into three families. 

1. Odobenidae (O-do-ben-i-day) - walrus   
2. Otariidae (O-tar-i-day) - eared seals, sea lions and fur seals    
3. Phocidae (Foe-sid-ay) - true seals

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Adult males are called bulls and the females are cows.  The young seals are known as pups while a baby walrus is called a calf.

​​The Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina) is the largest of all pinnipeds and belongs to the true seal family (Phocidae).  It breeds on the subantarctic islands and is an occasional visitor to Australian shores.  There was once a population of elephant seals found on King Island until the 19th century, when the population was hunted until it no longer existed.  The blubber of an adult male can be 10cm thick and in the sealing days one seal could yield up to 400L of oil.

​Australian seals were hunted commercially from the late 1790s for their pelts, meat and oil.  All three species that breed in Australia were almost hunted to extinction by 1830.  Bans on sealing followed and all seals have been fully protected in Australian waters since the 1980s.

​The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), like the elephant seal, is a true seal which is an occasional visitor to Australia.  As well as the usual seal diet, the leopard seal has lobed cheek teeth that allow it to filter krill from the water.  It also has well developed canines and can be an aggressive hunter, known to eat marine birds and other seals.

The Subantarctic Fur Seal (Arctocephalus tropicalis) is another occasional visitor to Australian shores.  It is the first of our eared seals.  Notice the small ears and how the elephant and leopard seal had none. Can you see any other differences?

The male subantarctic fur seal arrives at breeding sites, on the subantarctic islands, before the females to map out their territory.  They defend their territory with a lot of noise, bluff, and, if needed, fighting.  The females start arriving around November and give birth to a single black pup within a few days of arrival at the colony.  They then mate about a week later.

The Australian sea lion and the Australian and New Zealand fur seals are the only species that breed on and around Australia’s mainland and nearshore islands.
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​The New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) has breeding colonies in Australia.  Actually more seals live in Australia than in New Zealand which has prompted a proposal to change its common name from the New Zealand Fur Seal to the Long-nosed Fur Seal.  The New Zealand Fur Seal also had a genus name change for a little while.  In 2011 the genus of all Fur Seals other than the Australian fur seal was changed from Arctocephalus to Arctophoca.  In 2013 the name change was considered to be premature and was changed back to Arctocephalus pending further research.  It gets confusing doesn't it.

Male New Zealand fur seals arrive at colonies in late October to find and defend their piece of land before the females arrive.  Each male has 5-8 females within his territory.  The pups are born from mid November to January.  The female stays with the pup for 1-2 weeks before she starts to go on small food foraging trips.

​​The Australian Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus) is the largest of the fur seals with males often weighing more than 300kg.  Females are smaller reaching up to 110kg.  The Australian fur seal is an excellent swimmer and can dive to depths over 130m while searching for food.  Australian and New Zealand fur seals are very similar in appearance, you can use their teeth structure to tell them apart.  The Australian seals have large teeth with three cusps and the New Zealand seal have smaller teeth with one cusp.  So if you don’t mind fish breath identifying them will be a breeze. The Australian and New Zealand fur seals also like different colony sites. The Australian fur seal prefers a exposed rocky site while the New Zealand fur seal likes a site that is more sheltered by boulders.

This is a pic of one of our locals from the fur seal colony.  I believe Kate was walking on the rocks when one of them moved.  I’m not sure who was more surprised, Kate or the seal.
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​Our last seal was our first seal pic, the Australian Sea Lion (Neophoca cinerea).  Female Sea Lions are a silver ash colour and reach about 80kg in weight.  Males are chocolate-brown and can weigh up to 300kg.  Australian sea lions have the longest weaning period of any seal species, with pups staying with their mum for 18 months.  Researchers usually look at seal faeces (poo) to identify what they eat.  This doesn't work for the Australian sea lion, as its prey is so ground up there are very few identifiable parts. Some researchers have been using Crittercams to answer the question of the sea lion diet.  Unlike fur seals, the Australian seal lion is unable to rest in the water and has to come ashore for a sleep.​

Other Resources
 
Australian Geographic (2011) January – March, Issue 101.
 
Edgar, G.J. (2000) Australian marine life: the plants and animals of temperate waters.
 
 
Some web sites

Australian Antarctica Division
www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/wildlife/animals/krill
www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/wildlife/animals/seals-and-sea-lions/leopard-seals

Australian Geographic
www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2015/04/secrets-of-the-australian-sea-lion
There are also some great (cute) pics here.  
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Australian Government - Department of the Environment and Energy
www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=26
 
ICUN Red List
www.iucnredlist.org/details/41664/0

Marine Bio
marinebio.org/species.asp?id=296
marinebio.org/species.asp?id=308
 
 Tasmanian Government
dpipwe.tas.gov.au/conservation/threatened-species/lists-of-threatened-species/threatened-species-vertebrates/new-zealand-fur-seal

Our first week was all about what you could find under the pier.  If you missed out on some of our posts here they all are with some references and links for you.
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​Yellow Scad (Trachurus novaezelandiae) is also known as yellowtail, yellowtail mackerel or yellowtail horse mackerel.  As you can probably tell, it has a yellow tail.  They are found in schools in coastal bays and estuaries and are often caught off jetties. The smaller fish prefer inshore areas whereas the larger ones will head to deeper water.  They feed on zooplankton and can often be seen darting about in the water column by divers.  Size Up to 50cm.

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​A crab you may not see hiding on the jetty pylons is the Sponge Crab. They get their name from the habit of placing sponges on top of their carapace.  They do this by using their last pair of legs which have claw like ends.  Spong crabs are from the Dromiidae family, which are considered the most primative of the crab families; some species retain traces of a tail fan. This one is Stimdromia lateralis it has two large teeth either side of a smaller central tooth between the eyes.  It's claws are a light orange with white tips.  It can also be found in New Zealand, Japan and China. 
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Biscuit Sea Star (Tosia australis) is a bright starfish that comes in many colours.  It lives in rocky intertidal zones and coastal waters to a depth of 40m.  Its upper surface is covered with many interlocking small plates, but it is easily identified by the six (or rarely eight) larger plates along the edge of each of its five sides. (Can you find the plates in the pictures?)  It likes to cruise around, munching on sea squirts, sponges and bryozoans.  Size up to 5cm.

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​This is a favourite of mine and one I have seen when snorkelling. The Old Wife (Enoplosus armatus) gets it's name from grinding it's teeth when stressed. Apparently sailors and fishers claim the sound resembles a grumbling old woman.  The old wife is the only species in the Enoplosidae family.  It occurs in sheltered habitats such as seagrass beds, around jetty pylons or coastal reefs.  But beware, even though it looks pretty the first dorsal-fin spine contain venom that can cause severe pain. Size 30cm.

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​Fouling Soft Coral (Carijoa sp.) is often found hanging out with a sponge.  These simple animals form erect branching colonies with stems of white polyps.  When extended the polyps have eight frilly white tentacles that look like the rays of a snowflake.  They are sometimes known as 'snowflake corals'.  The tentacles have tiny stinging cells that enable the capture of zooplankton.  They occur in sheltered clear-water sites.  

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Next we had the Pink/Mauve Sponge (Haliclona nematifera).  Sponges are simple animals that lack complex tissues and organs.  Their larvae are tiny free-swimming components of zooplankton.  After settling on a hard surface, like a jetty pylon, they remain anchored there, like a plant, for their life.
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The Australasian Barnacle (Elminius modestus) has a white to grey shell with four strongly ridged plates.    It grows rapidly - as much as 6mm during its first 40 days after settling on a surface.   It reaches reproductive maturity in its first season and is capable of spawning several times a year, making it one of the fastest-reproducing barnacles in Australian waters.  It's a native species that is able to hang out in a wide range of environmental conditions and has now been introduced to other countries via ships hulls. The Australasian Barnacle was first collected and described by Charles Darwin during his voyage on the Beagle.  It grows to a maximum diameter of 1.2cm. 

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Bluebell Sea Squirts (Clavelina molluccensis) live in colonies attached to rubble, dead coral or jetty pylons.  They are a semi-transparent blue colour with a characteristic pattern of blue spots and patches.    In study sites in South Australia it has been found to disappear during summer and autumn.  Is it just me or do some of the squirts have smiley faces on them? 
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​The Feather-Duster Worm (Chone sp.), also known as fan worms, live inside protective tubes.  They extend highly branched appendages, which are used to take oxygen and sweep up microorganisms from the water.  Feather-duster worms are sensitive to light, water motion and touch, hiding their delicate tentacles by withdrawing rapidly into their protective tubes.  This one is a Southern Fan Worm, it looks like a firework explosion.  

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​Sea Lettuce (Ulva australis) looks like bright green lettuce leaves.  This is a common species with several wide fronds (the leaves) arising from a common base and with unruffled edges.  You will often find it in low tide areas and rock pools.  I don’t think I have ever seen or taken a good photo of sea lettuce.  

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Mado (Atypichthys strigatus) are easily recognised by their elongate silver body with yellow fins and brownish to blackish stripes.  They are sometimes caught to use as bait.  Size: up to 25cm long. 

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Thornfish (Bovichtus angustifrons) are small fish that can usually be recognised by the large spine projecting back from the rear of its head.  They are elongate fishes with flattened heads and strong ventral fins under the head used for perching.  They come from the Bovichtidae family which are closely related to Antarctic ice fish.  Size:  28cm 

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Next fish on the list is the Common Threefin (Norfolkia clakei).  Threefins resemble blennies, another fave of mine, but have three dorsal fins and relatively large scales.   The common threefin is a small fish with a pink or brown body (depending on where it lives), but the dark bar below its eye is always obvious.  Size: 8cm 

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​I find the next two animals frequently under the pier.  They hang out where the boats come in and the fishermen clean their catch.  

​This fellow is a stingaree.   It belongs to the same class of animals as sharks, cartilaginous fish.  This class of animal has a skeleton made of cartilage rather than bone and have five to seven gill slits on each side of the body.

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​I call this guy Snorey Seal, although it may be a girl as there was a pup last year.  You can hear it napping under the wharf, sounds like it is snoring.  Seals are mammals that belong to the order Pinnipedia.  They have stream-lined bodies, forelimbs modified as flippers and webbed hindlimbs.  They live in water and on land.  I'd say this is an Australian fur seal as there is a colony near by.

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Other Resources

Australian Geographic (2011) January – March, Issue 101.
 
Edgar, G.J. (2000) Australian marine life: the plants and animals of temperate waters.
 
Davey, K. (1998) A photographic guide to seashore life in Australia.
 
Kuiter, R.H. (1997) A photographic guide to Sea Fishes of Australia.
 
Hutchins, B. & Swainston, R. (1999) Sea Fishes of Southern Australia.
 
 
 
Some web sites
 
Australian Museum
australianmuseum.net.au/yellowtail-scad-trachurus-novaezelandiae
australianmuseum.net.au/old-wife-enoplosus-armatus-white-1790
australianmuseum.net.au/thornfish-bovichtus-angustifrons

eFlora South Austrlaia
www.flora.sa.gov.au/efsa/Marine_Benthic_Flora_SA/Part_I/Ulva_australis.shtml

EOL
eol.org/pages/1020041/overview
 
Fishes of Australia
fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/935

In between dives
inbetweendives.com/gallery?s=Norfolkia%20clarkei

Port Phillip Bay Marine Life
portphillipmarinelife.net.au/species/6363

Museum Victoria
collections.museumvictoria.com.au/species/8301
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Queensland Museum
www.qm.qld.gov.au/microsites/biodiscovery/01environments/marine-habitats.html


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It looks like the links in the blog are miss behaving.
Let's see if they will work here.  I have also added the links to the Facebook posts made during the week.


Mass bleaching - Reef Resilience   (keep up top)
www.reefresilience.org/coral-reefs/stressors/bleaching/mass-bleaching/

Nursing the ocean back to health
www.nature.com/scitable/blog/saltwater-science/nursing_the_ocean_back_to

Deep Barrier Reef coral documented for the first time by Queensland scientists (2015)
www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-25/deep-barrier-reef-coral-documented-for-first-time/6149010



Great Barrier reef bleaching stats are bad enough without media misreporting  (about third)
theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-stats-are-bad-enough-without-media-misreporting-58283


Genetic secrets of algae
www.aims.gov.au/docs/media/latest-news/-/asset_publisher/EnA5gMcJvXjd/content/genetic-secrets-of-algae-provide-vital-insight-into-coral-bleaching

The largest coral atoll in the world lost 80% of its coral to bleaching
thinkprogress.org/the-largest-coral-atoll-in-the-world-lost-80-percent-of-its-coral-to-bleaching-168ba23b0562#.zeiwzt526

Climate-related death of coral around world alarms scientists
www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/world/asia/climate-related-death-of-coral-around-world-alarms-scientists.html?_r=1

El Nino's warmth devastating reef worldwide
www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/el-ni-o-s-warmth-devastating-reefs-worldwide

NOAA Coral Reef Watch
Easy explanations and links to education pages.  The program's satellite data provides current reef environmental conditions to identify areas at risk for coral bleaching.
Coral polyps photo reference
oceanservice.noaa.gov/

Eco-evo lab
Zooxanthellae - symbiotic algae photo reference
www.ecoevolab.com/research/geomicrobiology-of-pristine-environments

XL Catlin Seaview Survey
Has excellent before and after photos of bleached reefs and other marine pics
www.globalcoralbleaching.org

Coral Growth Forms - University of Queensland
In nature there are always exceptions.  Have a look at this video of some corals on the Great Barrier Reef, including one that is a single coral polyp.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFdmIQe-gLQ


National Geographic - 93% of the Great Barrier Reef is suffering
news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160420-coral-bleaching-australia-map-climate-change/

​Bright spots shine light on the future of coral reefs
www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2016/06/bright-spots-shine-light-future-of-coral-reefs


 
REFERENCES and LINKS
I used Tropical Reef course notes plus these websites . 



http://www.nature.com/news/mass-coral-death-drives-efforts-to-identify-resilient-reefs-1.20080?utm_content=bufferbd7f8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer


https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2016/06/bright-spots-shine-light-future-of-coral-reefs

http://www.aims.gov.au/docs/media/latest-news/-/asset_publisher/EnA5gMcJvXjd/content/genetic-secrets-of-algae-provide-vital-insight-into-coral-bleaching

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0006324

There are so many more I could add but you will end up will coral overload like me :-)

We’ve been hearing a lot about mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef of late.  The coral is turning white and the reefs are dying.  But what is coral?  How do they bleach?  Let’s face it, nobody’s walking around with a giant nappy bucket soaking them over night?  So then, how do coral turn white?
 
To answer this question we need to know what coral is.  There are different types of corals.  Let’s look at a coral we would all be familiar with.
 


What we call coral is a colony of animals.  Take a close look at a branch.  You will see lots of tiny animals that look a bit like an anemone on it.  These are coral polyps, and they are related to anemones.


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​Coral polyps, like their cousins the anemones, have a circle of tentacles around their mouth cavity.  Polyps use their tentacles to catch plankton as it floats by.  But plankton is only a small part of a polyps food source.  90% of it’s food comes from a symbiotic algae known as zooxanthellae (zo-zan-THEL-ay).  The coral provides the algae with a protected environment to live in.  The algae uses carbon dioxide and other compounds produced by the coral polyp to make oxygen and food for it. 
A good example of recycling :-)
 

 Important bit …….
Coral polyps are clear and soft.  The hard coral ‘skeleton’ they live on is white.
It is the algae, zooxanthellae, that give coral its colour.

NOW YOU KNOW WHAT CORAL IS, HOW DOES IT 'BLEACH'?
 
When the water gets too warm, the algae start to produce toxins that damage them and the coral polyp.  Even though the algae is needed to produce food for the polyp it has no choice but to say goodbye and expel the toxic algae.  Now remember that important bit?  If the coral polyp has no algae living in it, what colour do you think the coral will be?  Yes, your right, its white, and hungry.

CAN CORALS RECOVER FROM BLEACHING?
 
This depends ….
If the water temperature doesn’t get too high or last too long, the bleaching should be mild and the corals will gradually recover over time. However, if the bleaching is severe or prolonged, individual polyps or whole colonies will die.  Even corals that survive bleaching are likely to become infected with coral diseases.  These diseases can kill corals, sometimes many months after the bleaching event.
 

BLEACHING EVENTS
 
The first signs corals were being impacted by warming occurred in the early 1980s in the Caribbean.  Reef managers in the Florida Keys began to report whitening of corals across large reef sections.  In the years that followed, mass coral bleaching and mortality began to appear in other parts of the world. Always, it seemed, during the warmer years.  The scientists were sent to work.  Their research and experiments showed that small changes in temperature were all it took to destabilise the relationship between coral and their algae. 
 
In 1998, the first major global bleaching event occurred. An underwater heatwave, triggered by El Niño, killed 16% of corals on reefs around the world over a period of nine months.  It began in January 1998, in the eastern Pacific.  Reef scientists started reporting mass coral bleaching in the area.  Soon afterwards, 50% of the Great Barrier Reef underwent coral bleaching. It then continued through the central Pacific and by April/May, reports were coming from Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. As the year progressed, mass bleaching began to be reported in the northern hemisphere, in Okinawa, Palau and the Caribbean. By the end of 1998, most coral reefs around the world had experienced mass coral bleaching.  The second global bleaching event in 2010 was also triggered by El Niño.  The third is the longest global coral bleaching event recorded so far (2014/2016).
 
High temperatures are not the only thing that stresses out corals.   Even though coral is a colony of animals it can’t get up and move away easily if it doesn’t like the neighbourhood.  Because the algae need light for photosynthesis coral require clear water with little suspended material in it.  They are therefore affected by local factors such as coastal and river pollution, sudden salinity shocks and overfishing.  But it is temperature, that is driving the new phenomenon of global coral bleaching.  This has been confirmed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States using satellite remote sensing.
 
Corals haven’t been able to adapt to the higher ocean temperatures as yet.  If the coral reef systems are impacted on a regular basis they won't have enough time to recover between events and the reefs will continue to die.  As well as being beautiful, coral reefs help support approximately 25% of all marine species.  The Great Barrier Reef is home to more than 1,500 species of fish, 6 of the world’s 7 marine turtle species, and 30 species of whales and dolphins.  It is also a huge tourism site, supporting about 70,000 jobs and puts more than five billion dollars into the Australian economy.   Worldwide, reefs support the livelihoods of around 500 million people and income worth over $30 billion.
 
 
SOME MORE CORAL FACTS
 
Most reef-building corals are found in tropical and semitropical waters, between 30° north and 30° south latitudes.  
​
Corals are anthozoans.  Other anthozoans include sea fans, sea pansies and anemones.
 
Each square meter of coral surface may have more than 10,000 polyps; that’s a lot of polyp.
 
Corals are ancient animals that evolved into the modern reef-building form over the last 25 million years.  They first appear as solitary forms in the fossil record more than 400 million years ago. 
 
The timing and extent to which a polyp extends from the skeleton often depends on the time of the day, as well as the coral species. Most polyps extend furthest when they feed on plankton at night.
 
Corals are long-lived organisms which have generation times that range between 3 and 100 years.
 
Unfortunately, our friend the branching coral is among the most sensitive corals when it comes to changes in sea temperature and other stresses.
 
Although reefs represent less than 0.1 percent of the world’s ocean floor, they help support approximately 25 percent of all marine species.

 
REFERENCES and LINKS
I used Tropical Reef course notes plus these websites .......

NOAA Coral Reef Watch
Easy explanations and links to education pages.   The program's satellite data provides current reef environmental conditions to identify areas at risk for coral bleaching. 
Coral polyps photo reference
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/index.php

Eco-evo lab
Zooxanthellae - symbiotic algae photo reference
http://www.ecoevolab.com/research/geomicrobiology-of-pristine-environments

XL Catlin Seaview Survey
Has excellent before and after photos of bleached reefs and other marine pics.
http://www.globalcoralbleaching.org
   

Some more links and articles for you ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFdmIQe-gLQ
   Coral Growth Forms - University of Queensland
   In nature there are always exceptions.  Have a look at this video of some corals on the Great Barrier Reef,      including one that is a single coral polyp.    

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160420-coral-bleaching-australia-map-climate-change/   

http://ocean.si.edu/slideshow/zooxanthellae-and-coral-bleaching​

http://www.nature.com/news/mass-coral-death-drives-efforts-to-identify-resilient-reefs-1.20080?utm_content=bufferbd7f8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2016/06/bright-spots-shine-light-future-of-coral-reefs

http://www.aims.gov.au/docs/media/latest-news/-/asset_publisher/EnA5gMcJvXjd/content/genetic-secrets-of-algae-provide-vital-insight-into-coral-bleaching

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0006324

There are so many more I could add but you will end up will coral overload like me :-)