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Wild Esperance

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Esperance, WA
Wild Esperance

Wildlife photographer & Biologist. All about nature in and around Esperance, Western Australia.

03/04/2026

Kelp gardens, seagrass meadows and sponge gardens.... none of our local marine life would exist without these vital habitats.

Photos are from Cape Le Grand National Park.

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18/03/2026

The beautiful and diverse reefs of Esperance. These photos were all taken in the space of 1hr, between 3-18m depth at Lucky Bay.

1) Posidonia seagrass meadows. These underwater plants are vital in stabilising our coastline, sequestering carbon and producing the oxygen that we breathe. They are also a critical habitat for many marine species. If damaged by boat anchors, this slow-growing plant can take decades to re-generate.

2) Hard corals. Thanks to the influence of the warm Leeuwin current, Esperance has spectacular areas of hard corals like these Turbinarea sp.

3) Gorgonian fan corals. Just like other corals, these are animals too! They form colourful fan like structures, orientated to filter feed in the prevailing currents.

4) Brown algae and kelp forests. A vital habitat for marine life, including those we rely on for food. Like seagrass, these large brown algae photosynthesise, sequestering carbon and producing oxygen. They also protect our coastline.

5) Inside caves and overhangs, where the light is too low for kelp to grow, sponges and other invertebrates fight for space on the rocky walls. This colourful refuge attracts a whole host of fish.

All these habitats make up a vital ecosystem that we depend on for food, coastal protection, they oxygen that we breathe, and climate regulation.

Visit Esperance Australia's Golden Outback

12/03/2026

Meeting an octopus in the wild can be fun 😍

You're meeting a highly intelligent mollusc that can solve puzzles, use tools, and even recognise one human from another (studies have shown).

But also, individual octopuses have distinct personalities. Some are shy and cautious, others are bold, curious and playful. You never know what you're going to get!

This octopus was the fun kind - bold, curious and tactile. It reached out to investigate my camera with its sensitive tentacles, giving me a great view of it's suckers!

A cool moment for me. I wonder what the octopus thought about it.

Species: Star Octopus (Octopus djinda)

Great Southern Reef Foundation

10/03/2026

Searching for dragons off our coastline, we found this beauty. It's always mesmerising to watch a leafy seadragon swaying with the kelp. They are one of the icons of the Great Southern Reef, found nowhere else in the world!

From this dive, we submitted ID shots of 2 dragons to Seadragon Search - a citizen science programme which identifies and monitors individual dragons to help inform their conservation.

The diver in this photo, a seasoned marine biologist who works in the tropics, is enjoying her first ever seadragon encounter!

Visit Esperance | Great Southern Reef Foundation | Western Australia | Australia's Golden Outback

09/03/2026

One way to escape yesterday's 42C heat - it was beautiful underwater. Esperance has such stunning reefs - a mixture of kelp, soft corals, hard corals and sponge gardens.

Visit Esperance Western Australia

06/01/2026

Another "Who's Who?" slide.
I love knowing what I'm looking at when diving or snorkeling.
So creating these slides is a little exercise to help me learn our local Esperance reef critters.... and for anyone else who's interested!

02/01/2026

Who's Who in our Blue Backyard?
As an exercise to improve my critter ID skills, I decided to go through my archive of Esperance underwater photos and identify as many species as I could.

Did I stay indoors staring at fish photos over my Christmas break instead of socialising... maybe. But only when conditions weren't good to get in the water!

So for anyone else who's interested (any other fish-nerds out there?), I'll start sharing my IDs here.

Bear in mind I'm an enthusiast not an expert, and have identified the critters to the best of my ability with the resources I have at the time.

28/12/2025

A few underwater moments from 2025😍 In between work contracts, we've managed to expand our repertoire of local shore-dive/snorkel sites this year.

The tanker jetty, Wharton Beach and Nine Mile Lagoon were highlights for us, and of course we continued visiting our usual fave, Lucky Bay.

There are still so many reefs to explore & fish names to learn!

22/12/2025

West Beach this morning. Low tide uncovering a miniature forest of brown algae, and sea anemones just keeping their tentacles above the shifting sands of the lagoon.

Also lots of these green fruit/seedpods from our seagrass meadows. These hidden meadows are vital nurseries for snapper, squid, whiting and so many more important species!

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13/10/2025

The colours of our Esperance reefs leave me lost for words!
Kelp gardens, soft corals, hard corals, and creatures that exist nowhere else in the world except Australia's southern reefs 😍

Photos from today's dive, which we managed to sneak in a brief weather window! We had low swell and wind early this morning, a nice change from the recent pounding surf 😄

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Great Southern Reef Foundation

23/09/2025

My friends had this amazing encounter whilst SCUBA diving at Esperance Tanker Jetty today! A pod of bottlenose dolphins did circles around them 😍 Video by Eddie Hauzer.

15/09/2025

Spotted at Lucky Bay.....the incredible Australian Giant Cuttlefish!
A living kaleidoscope, with the ability to change colour and texture in the blink of an eye. Truly an icon of the Great Southern Reef 😍

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Esperance, WA
6450

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