OCEAN INFORMATION

July

Australia Wide

Golden plovers, turnstones & common sandpipers return

North

Beach: green turtles lay eggs; oysters mature; brahminy kites feeding young; flatback turtle lays eggs; sharks give birth Reefs: first humpback whales return to calve

South

Beach: albatrosses seen from headlands; Port Jackson shark egg cases wash up - some with live embryos; whistling kites patrol beaches; giant petrels close to shore; squids washing up; silver gulls move to nesting islands; coast acacia flowers; more whistling eagles over coast; blue-green jellyfish close to shore

August

Australia Wide

Several species of sea urchins can be found amongst the beach-washed seaweed; red-capped plovers lay eggs; night return of Asiatic waders

North

Reefs: turtles lay eggs Beach: large influx of Asiatic waders; very low tides expose crabs; double-banded plovers leave for NZ in full plumage; dugongs come close to shore

South

Beach: shark eggs have visible embryos; sea slugs (nudibranchs) lay egg rings; seal pups leave colonies; cormorants begin nesting;