Skip to main content

January Wildlife Report

The Blue Swarms of Summer


Above: Blue Blubber swarm off Surfers Paradise. Photo by Grahame Long.
Below: Blue Tiger, Ferny Hills.

South-east Queensland has had a wet, warm and humid start to 2015, receiving twice the average amount of monthly rainfall for this time of year. A well-nourished landscape is currently allowing our wildlife to flourish; a casual walk in a National Park, suburban reserve or even your own garden will reveal huge numbers of insects, birds, reptiles and frogs.

Australia offers a harsh environment for our wildlife to live in, so when conditions become as favourable as they are right now, some species seize the opportunity in a very noticeable way. Earlier this month, I had several people contact me on one particular weekend to enquire about the huge numbers of butterflies they were seeing in Brisbane's suburbs. The species I believe they were referring to - and that I saw myself - is the Blue Tiger (Tirumala hamata). This is a tropical species that visits South-east Queensland each summer and is regarded by the Queensland Museum as uncommon in a normal year. Excessively wet and warm summers foster abundant vegetation growth however, and during these times, Blue Tigers undergo a population explosion like the one we are witnessing now. Found throughout South-east Asia, tropical Australia and also on the Great Barrier Reef islands, this butterfly is a brave traveler that will merrily head out into the wide blue yonder in order to colonise distant shores. By having a large population explosion before doing so, the species can withstand the inevitable losses incurred by unsuccessful forays, as there are enough butterflies left on the mainland to ensure continued survival. This wandering habit is why the Blue Tiger is often found beach-washed or seen flying out into coastal waters.

Speaking of coastal waters, it's not just creatures of the land that are in a 'boom' phase right now. Huge swarms of Blue Blubber (Catostylus mosaicus) jellyfish are congregating along our coastlines at present, making life difficult for recreational users of the water. Thick floating rafts of these jellyfish have been seen off Surfers Paradise, Redcliffe and North Stradbroke Island, but most estuaries and beaches are home to large numbers as well. These creatures feed on the plankton blooms that result from increased rain water flowing out of our rivers, and they gather en masse for an orgy of feasting and breeding. Though the sight of such large and vivid jellyfish swarms may cause alarm, this species has only a mild, itching sting if encountered by swimmers. They pose more of an inconvenience to boaters, surfers, jet-skiers and even commercial ships because the density of their rafts at the surface of the water can interfere with the safe operation of such watercraft. Many jellyfish species - including the Blue Blubber - find the warm oceanic conditions created by climate change to be extremely favourable, so we had best get used to them!

Comments

  1. thanks for explaining the blue blubbers! had no idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No worries Theresa, glad you find the phenomenon as interesting as I do! :)

      Delete
  2. Wow! That's quite a swarm of Blue Blubbers. I have never seen anything like it!
    I do see a number of the Blue Tiger butterflies every summer though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would be almost nervous to see a jellyfish swarm like that - I've always found them unsettling for some reason!

      Delete
  3. What an amazing sight of those Blue Blubber. I imagine getting caught in a raft of them might result in a bit more that an itch though! They kind of look like curdled blue cake mixture.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! Yes, I wouldn't be game to swim through those, no matter what sweet treats they resemble! :)

      Delete
  4. What an incredible phenomena - I really appreciate your explanations Christian :D)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Susan, that's really lovely of you to say.

      Delete
  5. Loved learning about the blue tiger butterflies. I am glad to hear they are seen in swarms in wet summers....and that perhaps the pesticides and herbicides are not as much of a problem there in Australia. We are seeing such a butterfly decline (along with the bees!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Marie, glad you enjoyed the write-up! That's such a shame about your butterfly situation in North America. It's not something being seen here for the most part, though a few species with particular host plant requirements have declined with the plants themselves.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

North Queensland Trip, Part 1.

Eungella National Park Eungella National Park location; Image courtesy of Google Maps. My home state of Queensland is a huge place. Bigger than any of the United States, it is considered the sixth largest sub-national entity in the world, behind such remote provinces as Nunavut in Canada, and the Danish territory of Greenland. Though I've lived in and travelled through Europe and Canada, much of my birthplace remains a mystery to me. To rectify this situation, I planned a road-tripping holiday this year with my sister and her partner, in the Northern section of the state. My first visit to anywhere in the Tropics, I have since returned home with some of the most amazing wildlife experiences possible!

Wild Plants of Ipswich

I've never really taken much notice of plants until recently, regarding them usually as just the thing that a bird perches on while you're watching it. This week I decided it was time to change that attitude by trying my hand at plant identification in Denmark Hill Conservation Park, located in the centre of Ipswich. The park is just 11.5 hectares in size, but preserves a patch of bushland that acts as an 'island refuge' in a sea of suburbia. I did my best to focus on the trees and not be too distracted by birds or the resident Koala   (Phascolarctos cinereus)  population, and came up with nine interesting trees and plants seen on the Water Tower Circuit.

Wild Queensland: Photos and stories from my roadtrip north

Earlier this month, I drove up to Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday Region to celebrate the 40th birthday of my close friend, Kat. Photo by Luke Martin. Our time there overlapped for one weekend, in which we enjoyed swims, drinks, hearty dinners and a sailing adventure around the islands. The celebrations and wonderful catch-ups flew by quickly, but when Kat and her husband Luke flew back down south on Sunday, I still had a week's worth of time at my disposal to explore the nature of Queensland's coast. I started with a journey into the forests of Conway National Park, just a ten minute drive east of Airlie Beach. I spent a sunny, humid morning walking up to the peak of Mount Rooper, through vine scrub and eucalypt forest. It was exhilarating!  I immediately saw a new species of bird for me in the carpark there, a female olive-backed sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis). After so much rain earlier in the week, the forest floor was also teeming with amazing fungi! After lunch back in town,