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a tiny lionfish that was less than an inch in length
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date: 23/3/2009
Author:Nick Brennan
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Weather: Sunny | Air Temp: 27.6°C | Wind: SE 20/25 knots | Water Temp: 25°C | Water Visibility: ~10 m | Sea State: Chop
The glass bottom boat encountered some beautiful parrot fish this morning with guests very impressed by a large school that was grazing the reef for algae. Blue green chromis were also filling the water column picking off the abundance of plankton about, making the snorkel a very colourful one indeed today.
The bird watching tour was very successful today with guests being able to observe upwards of twenty species. The reef egret was seen in both the white and grey morphs, wading close to the shore at the coral gardens foraging for invertebrates. The frigate bird was also seen circling over head and guests were interested to hear that the aboriginals call these birds the rain brothers. These birds abandon the islands when cyclones like Hamish that has just been come through and fly in close to the mainland therefore giving the aboriginals warning for the impending weather. Although it wasn’t seen on the tour one guest talked about being dive bombed by a white bird. The guide recognized the description as the black napped tern, a bird that is particularly territorial if someone encroaches on its breeding area. The man said that for a little bird it was very brave!
On the dive today there were plenty of sharks around keeping everybody very happy but the highlight today was a tiny lionfish that was less than an inch in length. It was hiding in a crevice in the coral and was lucky to be spotted by the keen eyes of our experienced dive staff. After a good look the divers continued on and found a leopard spot shark sleeping out near Maori wrasse bombie. It capped off a beautiful morning in the water for our guests.
In the evening guests laughed while having a friendly game of reef bingo. Guests spoke of their anecdotes with the creatures of reef bingo and everybody enjoyed hearing of each others experience. It was a light hearted way to wind up another day in this special part of the world.
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Lion Fish - Al Jones
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