A portfolio by SARAH QUINE

Divers in our club call these Waratah Anemones. This image was taken at Bicheno in Waubus Bay diving a popular shore dive called ‘The Rock' in 12 metres.

This soft coral tree was photographed in 35 metres on the reef that runs in between the big and little Hippolyte Rocks on the Tasman Peninsula. Our club calls this dive Needle Rock. These species of soft coral come in various colours and tend to be found on the deeper dives.

This Feather Star was taken at Needle Rock on the Tasman Peninsula in 25 metres.

Tasmanian waters are famous for their beautiful inhabitants and one of the most curious and colourful is the weedy Seadragon. This photo was taken on a night dive at the Kingston Yacht Club boat ramp in 3.7 metres. Encounters with Seadragon are common in Tasmanian waters and kelp forests are a great place to find them gliding peacefully through the water.

This large colony of large hydroids was photographed in the Lagoon Bay kelp forest in 18 metres.

The famous Tasmanian blacklip abalone, this particular individual was busy grazing his way through a sheet of Erythropodium hicksoni soft coral and you can see where he has been by the more barren patches on the rock. (I couldn’t catch this one; I refuse to take abalone with too much growth on their backs as they support these amazing mini eco-systems with sessile animals and algae sprouting from their shells. If you moved that slowly you would support your own ecosystem as well.)

Kelly island, Lagoon Bay, Tasman Peninsula at 13 metres, dive buddy in a haze of bubbles. Aqua Homo sapiens, these introduced species forgo their contemporary mammalian behaviour and have adapted to the underwater environment. This particular species is a common cold water ‘Dry Suit’ variety.

This is one of our more common starfish in Tasmania. Shown is a close up of the back of a starfish, the image was taken in the Fortescue Bay kelp forest at about 14 metres.

Commonly known as Pencil Urchins, this specimen was photographed on the south side of Kelly Island, Lagoon Bay, Tasman Peninsula in 25 metres.

Photographed at ‘Mikes Hairy Bottom’, D’Entrescasteaux Channel in 10 metres. This 'big-bellied' seahorse was trying his hardest to blend with the sponge and remain inconspicuous. These delicate creatures are not fans of attention and tend to shy away from any curious divers. Tasmania hosts a number of different species of seahorses and night dives under jetties and boat moorings are a great time to see numerous sea horses out feeding.  

This nudibranch was found in 10 metres in the D’Entrescasteaux Channel at a site affectionately named by local divers ‘Mikes Hairy Bottom’. The nudibranch is feeding on a Dendrilla Rosea sponge. These tiny creatures grow to 50mm and are the most common to be seen due to their vivid orange/red markings contrasted with their white bodies.

Their common name is Swimming Anemone but everyone calls them Baked bean or Brain Anemone due to their closed day time appearance. Unlike most anemones they can move freely by crawling or floating and open at night to feed. This amazing creature was photographed in the Lagoon Bay Kelp forest on the Tasman Peninsula in 15 metres attached to some Giant Kelp.