Peter Godfrey-Smith's Blog, page 12

20. Intrepid

This post is photographic, prompted by some technology and by the appearance of some less common species of nudibranch in the water at Cabbage Tree Bay, in Sydney,recently. The one above is Goniobranchus setoensis. They’renot especially rare, but I haven’t seen one roaming around like this before. Usually they keep their heads down.

The same could not be said for the species below:

This isChromodorishunterae, a species thatseems positively intrepid. I’ve several times found them clambering...

19. Coexistence

I am often surprised at which combinations of animals in the sea will sit or hover together very close, coexisting, with no attempt to eat or exclude the other. Last month I was on my way out to one of the best Giant Cuttlefish dens and I saw a Wobbegong, a kind of “carpet shark,” swimming by in the open. It wasn’t a large one, perhaps four or five feet long.

I arrived at the den and was pleased it see it was occupied, but then saw a Wobbegong, perhaps the same one, nose its way in, too. Af...

18. Rivalry

In Chapter 1 of the book Consciousness and the Brain, Stanislas Dehaene runs quickly through the history of his topic. Early on he discusses research done about 20 years ago on “binocular rivalry,” by Nikos Logothetis and his coworkers. He says something very strong about that work: “This was, literally, the first glimpse of a neuronal correlate of conscious experience.”

What was the glimpse? The experiments were very clever. It had been known since the 19th century that if entirely different...

17. Restless

All the photos in this post (except for one) were taken yesterday in Sydney, when I came across a large Giant Cuttlefish, over two feet long, under a dark ledge. Numbers of these animals close to shore are increasing now, as the mating season begins.They spend long periods under overhangs and in crevices, sometimes coming out to roam in the late afternoon. Many of them are quiet in these dens, with colors turning over in an almost imperceptible chromatic rumble. This one, though, was quick a...

49. Wild One

The photos in this post are from December, when I came across a Giant Cuttlefish off the Sydney coast in a den where I’ve encountered many of the most spectacular animals pictured on this website. When cuttlefish are common in the … Continue reading →

48. Beneath

In the middle of Sydney Harbour, at Chowder Bay, there’s a dive site underneath and around a long jetty. It’s a marvellous place, gloomy and foreboding, while being so close to the heart of the city and the cacophony of … Continue reading →

47. Sanctuary Update

Above is a ‘Blue Groper’ peering at us from Cabbage Tree Bay, the marine reserve near Sydney where a lot of the animals on this website live. A few months ago I wrote a post about the state government’s plan … Continue reading →

46. Sentinel

After some weeks away, I went back recently to a site described earlier on this website, where two Black-Lined Sleeper Gobies, (Valenciennea helsdingenii) have been building and tending a network of dens and towers off the coast of Sydney. Here’s … Continue reading →

45. Spiral Salute

While diving at Nelson Bay last month I came across this octopus roaming around. It was a large one, hunting among sponges in the late afternoon. At one stage while crossing an open area it began to move in a … Continue reading →

44. Telescope

I realized a little while ago why watching nudibranchs in the water is such a surprisingly intense experience – at least to me. It’s not just the otherworldliness of the animals, but the fact that as you watch them – … Continue reading →