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Spawning Anemones in New Zealand

16/7/2015

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Sunk as a wreck for scuba divers in 2007, the ex-HMNZS Canterbury has since become an artificial reef within the Bay of Islands. Colonies of Corynactis australis (Jewel Anemones) have propagated along the railings around the wreck and on the hull itself.

In 2009 divers from Northland Dive descended on the wreck. By accident they discovered a great natural phenomenon of New Zealand's underwater world.
Corynactis australis are known for their high degree of colour variability. In addition to spawning they also reproduce by fission. Their bodies split in half vertically, forming patches of similarly coloured individuals.
Jewel anemones (Corynactis australis) in New Zealand
Underwater photographer Alison Perkins in New Zealand
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The secret sex life of anemones inspires judges in the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year Competition

9/8/2014

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Spawning jewel anemone (Corynactis australis)
Dancing a jig at my keyboard, I’m thrilled to announce that I have been selected as a finalist in the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year competition!

The competition features images shot entirely within the New Zealand territory in the past year and a half. There are four categories: wildlife, landscape, society & culture, and photostory. Just 22 finalists have been selected from some 3200 entries.

My photo is now on display in Cathedral Square in Christchurch (9th to 31st August 2014) as part of a free outdoor public exhibition featuring the finalists of the 2014 competition and some of the best images entered in the previous five years. The winners will be announced on 30th October at an event in Auckland.

Every species “does it” their own way. While the Kama Sutra might be strictly for Homo sapiens, jewel anemones (Corynactis australis) have a few different tricks in their own playbook. Jewel anemones reproduce through two methods: longitudinal fission and spawning. In longitudinal fission, the anemones split down the middle to form clusters of clones, the beautiful like-coloured patches of anemones that we find underwater on wrecks and walls in New Zealand.

It was the spawning that I set out to photograph, a synchronised mass reproductive event during which female anemones release eggs and male anemones eject sperm. The event is rare and for someone like me (who gets far too animated about anything that happens underwater), I can tell you it is exciting stuff.
A leatherjacket (Parika scaber) comes in to feed on spawning jewel anemones (Corynactis australis)
The photo above is NOT the one I entered in the competition, but I just couldn't resist sharing this picture of a cheeky leatherjacket fish coming in for an opportunistic feed at the expense of the spawning female anemones.

Visit the New Zealand Geographic website to see my picture of female anemones in the throes of releasing eggs. While you're there you might like to vote for your favourite three photos (the People's Choice award). It will be tough for you to choose as there are so many exciting images on display.

It has been awesome to have my underwater photography recognised in this competition. I look forward to loads more scuba diving adventures and the challenges that come with trying to capture stunning photos of New Zealand's underwater wonderland.
Underwater photographer Alison Perkins in New Zealand
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Death By Lemon Shark

7/6/2014

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Underwater picture of a Lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) on a night dive in the Bahamas
Death by lemon shark - it would make an interesting tombstone.

Scuba diving at night with sharks; it's exhilarating, or the stuff of nightmares depending on your point of view. Enveloped by inky blackness as the sun steers below the sea, the water gets thicker, the sharks move faster and it's hard to see them coming. So it seems.

For an underwater photographer fascinated by sharks - it's the best and the worst. Flashes of velvet white belly against a silk curtain of jet-black; there must be some great pictures there for the taking: if you can get a focus lock on your camera in the low light, if you can see your subject coming, if your model and its toothy grimace aren't crash landing at your feet in a cloud of silt.

Mid-water, at speed, a lemon shark is bearing down on me. It's a robust, medium shark with a generous girth. A shark of this size doesn't make you think about being cautious, survival instinct means you are. Something doesn't feel right. I have been approached by lemon sharks. They look like rotund grey hovercrafts suspended a couple of inches off the sand. This one looks like a barreling train, and its monorail leads right to my head.

I'm convinced collision is imminent. Momentary panic. Heart racing. Is this shark really going to hit me? Without warning, like a plane mysteriously shot from the sky, the shark flips belly up, dives and crashes nose first into the sand.

I fired off one shot.

It was vexing behaviour. I'm not a marine biologist, I can only speculate. Driven mad by a parasitic itch? They’re so hard to scratch when you don’t have hands. Looking to shake off the relentless swarm of remoras around its head? It was a passing shark, I didn't ask it. I slumped back astonished. Then swam off, inspired for more harmless night diving encounters with sharks.
Underwater photographer Alison Perkins in New Zealand
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    Alison Perkins

    I'm an underwater photographer who is nuts about scuba diving and the world below water.

    New Zealand underwater photographer Alison Perkins

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