Swimming with a Flowery Cod at the Great Barrier Reef

Observations that Matter #1

Last December (2025), I slipped off the back of a small dive boat at First Mooring, Green Island, not far from the city of Cairns. The water was warm, the current gentle, and I was hoping to see sharks. Instead, I found something even more special.

Hovering near a cluster of leather finger corals, a large, mottled shape caught my eye. It was a Flowery Rockcod (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) — also known in Queensland as the Brown-marbled Grouper. This impressive fish, with its distinctive pattern of dark blotches and pale spots, is listed as Vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN. Seeing one up close, resting calmly against the reef, was a great privilege.

Few divers or snorkelers ever encounter these shy, large predators.

Of course, I had my underwater camera with me, and I got some great photographs. Increasingly, I post these at iNaturalist. You can view the full observation (and photo) here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/331150866

There is actually a whole series of photographs with the same fish for that moment in time, that you can click through. Of course, it’s a ‘research grade’ observation.

I document what I see, and these direct observation matters more than models or headlines. My iNaturalist page is full of these encounters — corals, damselfish, sharks, rays, and groupers from Green Island, the Ribbon Reefs, Yongala, and beyond.

Explore them all here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/jennifermarohasy

You’ll find the Flowery Cod from Green Island, healthy Porites bommies, curious parrotfish, and much more. These are real moments from real dives, not aggregated statistics or press releases falsely suggesting doom and gloom because that is the official narrative.

Supporting More Underwater Adventures

Thanks to the newly established Bryant Macfie Environmental Charity (BMAC), donations to my research work are now tax-deductible in Australia.

Your support can help fund more dives, fieldwork, photography, and direct observations like this one at Green Island — so we can continue documenting the real state of the Great Barrier Reef and other complex environmental systems.

If you’d like to contribute, you can email me at EnvironmentalCharity@substack.com, or call me/Jennifer on +61 41 887 3222.

Every donation helps get me (and the camera) back into the water.