Rare ruby seadragon washes up on WA cliffs

By Zoe Della Vedova March 5, 2015
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Zoe Della Vedova had a lucky find of the rare ruby seadragon, only recently classed a distinct species

WE HAD A camping trip organised to go out to Point Culver (‘the cliffs’), WA with our two kids and two of our good mates. It’s a pretty remote place and I was pretty nervous seeing as my husband Troy had seen a death adder last time he had gone out…eeek! And the track to get there can be pretty rugged, so after about five hours of driving from our property near Condingup, Western australia, we finally made it.

The cliffs is a spectacular site; it definitely made the drive worthwhile and we were looking forward to checking it all out. You can only imagine how excited I was when I realised the first thing we found was the rare ruby seadragon — how special is that!

I had just read a little article on the find from our local newspaper. Troy had found him as we began our walk, just washed up against the rocks. My daughter’s main concern was why it had died; it didn’t looked damage so I told her it was old age!

We didn’t think to bring it back with us until we had started driving back, which I’m slightly devastated about now, but we will have pictures, which is great, and the story to tell.


The cliffs at Point Culver, Western Australia, where the ruby seadragon was found. (Credit: Zoe Della Vedova)