Kate Jonker: Gordon’s Bay
Kate Jonker lives and works in the seaside town of Gordon’s Bay, just outside Cape Town, South Africa. Just on Africa’s east coast, the area is incredibly diverse with colorful, unspoiled reefs which hug the rugged coastline of False Bay.
Reaching depths of between 7 and 30 meters, the marine-rich reefs are home to a dazzling array of macro critters large and small. A myriad nudibranchs, spider crabs, quirky fish, seals, smaller sharks, octopus, cuttlefish, pipefish and many other interesting creatures can be encountered on every dive in Gordon’s Bay.
The reefs are covered with colorful soft corals, feather stars, multicolored sea fans, sponges in every hue you can imagine, pink and orange noble corals and beautiful sea anemones.
Kate’s passion lies with macro photography and capturing the colorful and fascinating personalities that co-exist amongst the reefs in Gordon’s Bay.
This tiny gas flame nudibranch (Bonisa nakaza) was perched on top of a small rock at Pinnacle dive site in Gordon's Bay.
The reefs of Gordon's Bay is home to a number of spider crabs, like this Archaeopsis spinulosis, which can be found waiting on sea fans for their next meal to come along.
This false plum anemone (Pseudactinia flagellifera) sits on the top of a pinnacle at Noble Reef in Gordon's Bay, waiting for the next morsel of food to come its way.
This black nudibranch (Tambja campensis) grazes on a moss animal at Noble Reef in Gordon's Bay.
The Cape long-legged spider crab (Macropodia falcifera) hangs out on a sea fan at Pinnacle dive site in Gordon's Bay.
Horned blennies (Parablennius cornutus) simply have to be the most comical fish on the reef!
This tiny Chinese klipfish (Clinus nematopterus) hides in the folds of a beautiful maroon sponge at Stone Dog dive site in Gordon's Bay, waiting patiently to grow up!
This whipfan nudibranch (Tritonia nilsodhneri), photographed at Pinnacle dive site in Gordon's Bay is very unusual. Usually yellow to orange, they match the colour of their host sea fan. This one stands out like a sore thumb!
A Cape triple fin (Cremnochorites capensis) rests on a rock at Blousteen, Gordon's Bay
A pinch-lipped marginella (Marginella rosea) moves across an orange sponge in search of its next meal, which it will attach to its foot and drag it around as a living larder until required.
This is the egg case of a dark shy shark (Haploblepharus pictus), one of the smaller sharks that inhabit the reefs of Gordon's Bay.
The common cuttlefish (Sepia vermiculata) can be found on many of the reefs in Gordon's Bay, very well camouflaged, able to change their colour and texture in order to communicate or for camouflage.
A common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) at Blousteen in Gordon's Bay; using its camouflage to hide on a rock covered with pink and green sponge.
Crowned nudibranchs (Polycera capensis) are often found in Gordon's Bay. This was photographed at Cow and Calf dive site.