My Shots

John Huisman · Issue 116, Sep/Oct 2020 · pp. 75–76

Products mentioned: Nikon Coolpix 4600, Nikonos V

A mystery, finally solved. UwP issue 115 included an article and image in the ‘Parting Shot’ segment (#3) by Richard Howes, the image showing a strange spiral creature that was observed while diving off the island of Tongatapu in Tonga. It was suggested that the creature was a pyrosome, which is a free-floating colonial tunicate that can reach a remarkable size of up to 18 metres long. Richard’s image jolted my memory of having seen and photographed the same species, this leading to some lengthy detective work to try and establish what it was I had encountered. In February 2006, I was participating in a marine biology survey of Scott Reef, over 300 km off the coast of north-west Western Australia on the edge of the continental shelf. Scott Reef is massive reef system comprising two separate atolls, the horseshoe shaped South Reef and the slightly smaller, circular North Reef. Combined, t…