Sea Urchin

Common Sea Urchin
http://www.reefed.edu.au/home/explorer/animals/marine_invertebrates/echinoderms/sea_urchins

Sea Urchins are a major group of the echinoderms and the one in which spines are best developed. Sea Urchins have tube feet between their spines and the feet are attached to the animal's water vascular system. The tube feet operate on hydraulic principles and allow the urchin to move about, although rather slowly.


Sea urchins are globe-shaped with no arms. They have a compact skeleton with closely fitted plates, moveable spines with a ball and socket joint. Sea urchins also have powerful scraping jaws known as 'Aristotle's lantern'.
The sea urchin is nocturnal, hiding in crevasses during the day and emerging at night to feed. Sea urchins can be found in both warm and cold water.
Sea urchins are not currently endangered, but like most Reef animals, they are susceptible to changes in water temperature and pollution

White Sea Urchin

Sea Urchin, originally uploaded by Ladymaggic.

Found by Charlie and Jiffy at the rock wall by the first beacon.
This is a beautiful white sea urchin.
You can see his mouth

He was in the water where the Turtle lives.

 Sea Urchins are round in shape. They are covered in  spines. They can grow up to 9 cm wide.

Purple Sea Urchins live on rocky shores of eastern and southern Australia. They can be found in rockpools.
Purple Sea Urchins eat seaweed and algae.
Purple Sea Urchins are grazers. Their mouth is on the underside of their body. They use their powerful jaws and teeth to scrap food off rocks.
Octopuses, crabs and fish eat  Sea Urchins.
Purple Sea Urchins' spines are strong enough for them to dig small holes into rocks. They can chew the surface of the rocks, making a hole in which to hide.

Sand Crabs at Low tide

Crab, originally uploaded by Ladymaggic.

The rocks around the First Boat Ramp are covered in small oysters.
Many crabs live in this area and scuttle off as you walk along the shore.

Ovalipes australiensis

The sand crab is particularly agile being able to bury rapidly into the sand by digging backwards when disturbed. Fisherman find Ovalipes a nuisance by biting their bare feet in shallow waters, and expertly removing bait from their fishing hooks.

 

Low Tide

Low Tide, originally uploaded by Ladymaggic.

3rd January...I walked back to the shore over the sand flats.
This yacht was moored a little too close to land on this very low tide...0.60 at 17.15..
I am walking back now at 15.00 and the tide is still going out.

The tide is still not at its lowest...According to my tide chart, the tide will go as low as 0.37 on the 31st jan, but at 0.60 today on the 2nd Jan, it is very low.

Sandbanks at Low tide left of Burrum Heads

Sandbanks at Low tide, originally uploaded by Ladymaggic.

I saw that at Low tide, the sandbanks were not far from the mooring of the yacht I was staying on, so I decided to walk back across the sandbanks.
This is Burrum Heads from the sand banks as I walked back.
The time was 15.00 and the tide was receding. Low tide was at 17.15.
There were a few people yabbying for bait, and the sand was very soft and spongy underfoot. It took maybe 20 minutes to walk back from the edge of the sandbank back to Burrum Heads.
There are very few shells on the sand, and soldier crabs dived for cover as I walked past.

Low tide was at 5pm...I waited until the sandbank appeared as this was close to the yacht.

 

I get a ride in the dinghy to the sandbank and carrying my fishing rod, bag and laptop, I walk across the sandbank back to Burrum Heads.

The sand was very soft underfoot, and there were many tidal pools as the tide was still receding.

It was very hot in the afternoon sun.

The walk back took about 20 minutes...I waded through the many shallow tide pools.

There were very few shells on the sand, and hardly any weed in this area, but many tiny soldier crabs scuttled for cover as I disturbed them, and they immediately dug back into the soft sand.

Morning on the Burrum River

Morning on the Burrum River, originally uploaded by Ladymaggic.

I chose to escape the Caravan Park for a night on the yacht moored on the Burrum River...to hopefully get a photo of the full moon, which I did not do, because of the clouds and the rain.
I woke on the 2nd of January to this very peaceful and beautiful morning.
The birds were calling from the mangroves and the scene was very serene and beautiful

Fast Boat

Fast Boat, originally uploaded by Ladymaggic.

Small fishing boats with fast motors and a big wash do not consider moored yachts and other craft as they 'hoon' past waters that are not coastguard watched.
This is a classic example of a small boat whizzing along totally disregarding the yachts they pass.