If Alexander McQueen designed a slug…

Posted: July 14, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Camping | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments
…this would be it. Stichopus chloronotus – Greenfish Sea Cucumber

When you spend enough time dawdling about in the water, you start noticing things you shot right past before. Case in point, slugs. OK. Sea Cucumbers, or Sea Slugs to be precise. I’ve been swimming past these for years not giving them more than a “Ewww, slug” thought. Then I started actually looking at them and realised they are actually quite beautiful.

When I first saw this, I thought it was a slug with a pretty bubble butt. Butt NO! The colourful little blob is something I have not been able to identify (a worm?), nor seen since. I only took three unsharp photos as the swell raced me over it, and hence lesson one: You May Never See This Again.
Black slug with orange studs? Yes please. Actually an Egg Cowrie – there’s a white shell under there.

It all started when we befriended two really lovely young boys and their parents at the camp ground. The boys were dead keen on coming out snorkelling, regardless of swell, wind, grey skies, or tide, emerging every time visibly vibrating from cold but not admitting to it. One of the boys was desperate to see sharks, the other not at all keen to see sharks but studied the fish book and absorbed names and species at lightning pace. He was a clam fan. These boys had a really big impact on me, forever changing the way I looked at things.

This slug opted for seaweed landscaping.
I call this one Rusty Spikes
Seventies velvet sofa. We’ve all lived in a share house/flat with one at some stage.

These plain old sea cucumbers are everywhere, but looking with my new eyes, I saw a new decoration, and realised it was a tiny sea hare, around 2cm long. It is a kind of shell-less snail with black trim on the frilly sides, a bit like a flamenco dress. I’ve never seen one before, nor since.

Clams were something else I had also largely ignored, but once I started looking at them I noticed two things: Like fingerprints, no two are alike, but not only that, each one is completely different from the others. Some are like dark chocolate velvet. Others with chocolate and cream animal print, studded with turquoise. Genius.

The only motley one I’ve found. My personal fave.

Once I started looking at slow moving things, I also realised there were tiny landscapes everywhere, with multiple species of seaweed, soft corals, hard corals, and plant life, even within a two metre area. I am also very aware that it is so difficult to show scale in marine photos, so I’ll add in some dimensions.

CUTE trees. Each of these are between 1-3 cm high
The ocean has a vegetable patch. Every pea is around 5mm round.How ADORABLE is the soft pink coral? And it’s miniature.

Then of course, there’s sharks. I’ve been taking photos underwater whilst aloft the kayak on our sunset kayaks. Twice now, I’ve downloaded the pics to find sharks in the shot that I did not know were there. Just when you think you’re cool with them. I’ve found a spot where there are generally six at any time, and got some restless shark footage while snorkelling. But that deserves its own post.

Mona Lisa eyes. Always watching.
While in the kayak at sunset I’ve been experimenting with holding the camera underwater to take pics. (Very ordinary results so far!). Every time I think (ridiculously) “what if a shark bites it off?”. And then they keep sneaking into my pics.

In other camp news, a part of the deal when you try and stay in Cape Range for too long, you have to change campsites a bit. Keen to minimise pack up, Waz closes her down, dumps stuff on top and takes the kitchen mobile.

And of course, a post would not be complete without a photo of Waz.

Life imitating nature.