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Saturday - guests watch turtles hatching at night
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date: 27/12/2008
Author:Nick Brennan
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CONDITIONS
Weather: Sunny | Air Temp: 29°C | Wind: E/NE 10-15knots | Water Temp: 26°C | Water Visibility: ~ 30m | Sea State: Calm
ISLAND LIFE
Critter Encounters:
On the tucker tour this morning guests used some great initiative to devise ways to survive here on the Island in the hypothetical situation that they were stranded (without a resort!). The Pandanus tree is one of the most useful plants to have, as we are able to make shelter from its leaves, food (and wine) from its fruit, and even a paint brush from its seed! Although, as with all bush tucker, you do have to make sure it is properly prepared before you eat it or there may be some dire consequences!!
The Glass bottom snorkel boats today experienced absolutely perfect visibility, and the ocean surface was like a lake - making for picturesque conditions. Guests were fascinated by the schools of big eyed trevally that were spiraling like a tornado close to the ocean floor with some people able to swim right down and get brilliant photos among the fish. There was also a large group of turtles off the reef edge that were not bothered at all to have people swim close up to them for a really good look.
The scuba divers went out to the three pyramid bommies today and saw two majestic eagle rays before drifting down to second reef and viewing the incredible array of brightly coloured fish that call it home.
The guided reef walk was a fantastic outing with a wide variety of species observed. We saw the always fascinating Christmas tree worms (in red and blue), as well as a Dollabella sea hare that was creeping slowly crossing the reef. Guests were astonished by the intricate patterns of the clam shells and how unique each individual is across the reef flat. Everybody was interested to hear about the causes and effects of coral bleaching and felt inspired to further protect the reef after their close experiences with the reef during the day.
After dinner most of the resort set out to work off a little of their food before retiring to bed. Trekking to the northern end of the island in the hope of spotting nesting or hatchling turtles. Our first nest of the season, that emerged on the 21st , needed to be checked to see if any had been caught under any coral. Luckily for the hatchlings we found 5 and released them to run down to the waters edge, wishing them well as they swam off into the ocean to start their long and mysterious lives.
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Green Turtle Hatchling - Jenni Fox
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click to download flash player