A dying Blue Ringed Octopus is a sad sight. I came across one at Fly Point. The name ‘Blue Ringed Octopus' does not actually refer to a single species, but rather a genus of species. These include the Greater Blue Ringed Octopus, the Southern Blue Ringed Octopus and the Blue-Lined Octopus. All have circular, iridescent blue markings with the Blue-Lined also having lines as markings. This was a Blue-Lined, which inhibits the subtropical waters off eastern Australia, south of the Great Barrier Reef. Other photography highlights were an Eastern Clingfish, a Sculptured Seamoth, Sea Spiders and Sharpnose Snake Eels but it was the dying Blue Ringed Octopus which was the outstanding encounter.

In any case these were two memorable months. February was really enjoyable. My daughter Jennifer was over from the UK and one of my favourite marine subjects, Giant Sea Hares, could be found on the Nelson Bay shore dives. At the end of the month I flew to Mexico and the USA for a dive trip not realising how different life would be when I returned to Australia. Flying back to Australia from Dallas in March, I unwittingly sat near a Covid-19 infected passenger. The coronavirus pandemic had first been detected in Wuhan, China a few months earlier and by now had spread around the world. Fortunately for me I did not contract the virus and after a period of self-isolation and a negative Covid-19 test, I was able to resume life in Nelson Bay. But to misquote Mr Spock’s supposed reply to Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, it was life but not as I had known it. Lockdown was gathering momentum with Australia’s international borders, then some state borders, closing. Many businesses were instructed to temporarily close and the population were told to stay at home.