Hainan Surf Blog

Paddled out to the abandoned wharf today at the East end of Dadonghai Beach. Pretty cool reef out there, some live coral heads and lots of fish. Some parrotfish and other big fish, but lots of cool little fish. Very large Green Anemone with two clown fish living inside it- lots of small blue/white/black cleaner wrasse, and schools of tens of thousands of small silvery and blue fish.

Sadly, the reef is being eaten by spiny starfish, which are everywhere. These are about a foot in diameter, with 8-12 arms and tough spiny skin. Apparently they are somewhat poisonous, and tearing them in two only multiplies their population by the same. I wonder if I could pay the Chinese kids to go collect them and bury them in the sand or something. We'll see.