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Tuesday - An olive sea snake also appeared
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date: 6/1/2009
Author:Shay Young
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CONDITIONS
Weather: Sunny | Air Temp: 31°C | Wind: SE winds 20/30 knots | Water Temp: 26°C | Water Visibility: ~15m | Sea State: Choppy
ISLAND LIFE
Critter Encounters:
Today was yet another beautiful day on Lady Elliot with sunny skies appearing as all awoke for a day of adventure!
The historical tourers headed through the resort and towards the western side of the island for a look into the historic past of Lady Elliot and it’s industries. The real fascination came as guests learnt about the lighthouse era; guests were amazed by the fact that the lighthouse keepers houses are all raised off the ground. They discovered that this is for good reason – in 1933 and 1966 the island had one foot of water over its entire surface for one full high tide! This inundation was due to a king high tide coupled with a storm surge; I guess the good news is they had the lighthouse to hide in until the water level decreased. The guests walking back to their rooms were pleased to note that all the modern resort buildings stick to this format and are also raised, just in case we are awash ever again!!
The glass bottom boat headed on the western side of the island with the south east wind still pushing through; Turtles of all kinds once again sighted on the boat trip out to the snorkel site and then more again as guests entered the water. Sharks appeared to be the theme of the day with black tip, white tip and grey reef sharks all sighted swimming through; a leopard shark was also sighted sitting on the sediment out the front of second reef in about 12m of water... an exciting sight for all those in the area!
The island discovery today focused on the vegetation of the island with a lot of interest in the Casuarina tree and its small pinecone-like seed pods. These were the main tree to be plated on the island in 1969 as part of the re-vegetation of lady elliot island. They form the majority of the trees on the island still today and come under closer scrutiny at this time of year as they release all of their wind borne seeds which can be seen scattered on the ground.
Fish feeding saw “Nigel” our friendly silver drummer coming in for a feed and some of our extremely colourful moon wrasse.
The divers today headed to lighthouse Bommies in the morning and Severence in the afternoon with manta rays sighted and trevally schooling around one another and a large school of cardinal fish. An olive sea snake also appeared by surprise out of the deep. Passing by the divers on its way up to the surface for a breath of air.
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turtle and snorkeller - Shay Young
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