Dive report: Schooner Bay
Aug 12, 2023
One hour after high tide
Visibility around 8m
Sunny, no wind, waves or current
Freediving 8m max, mostly 3-5m
One hour swim
I walked the bay at low tide then entered the water when the sun came out. I swam straight out from the end of the road (SW) then headed east towards the rocks. I explored the intersection between the rock and sand substrate for 200-300 meters then headed towards the shore and looped back in shallower water.
Exotic Calupera covered most rocks but was in the early stages and was not thick like in Okupu Bay where it has been established longer. I didn't see any bare patches of rocks here where matts of exotic Calupera have been dislodged creating large holes in the biogenic blanket. I also did not see any Unwanted Organisms in either bay (Other than exotic Calupera). There were still many rocks with no exotic Calupera, these were covered in diverse native algae, mostly Coraline turf. Exotic Calupera was expanding into the kina barrens and smothering the shorter native algae, however most rocks were covered in Ecklonia and the tall brown kelps looked unaffected by exotic Calupera (once at full size). Exotic Calupera was under the Ecklonia canopy but limited to rocks, it was not really encroaching onto the sand here.
A few sponges were being smothered by the exotic Calupera but the main habitat being smothered was Coraline turf.
The water was full of salps, mostly broken up but a few chains. Fish seen: Schools of spotty. A few parore, small red moki, banded wrase, violet sweep and triplefins. Just one young sand daggers wrasse, a leather jacket and a small snapper.
