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A white tipped reef shark was seen out at the light house bombies sitting motionless on the bottom
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date: 2/5/2009
Author:Nick Brennan
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Weather: Showers with extended periods of sunshine
Wind: SE 15/20 knots
Water Temperature: 24ºC
Water Visibility: ~20 m
Sea State: Calm
Critter Encounters:
The glass bottom boat was sensational today with loads of creatures coming up under the glass giving those guests that weren’t snorkeling an incredible thrill. A Manta ray that was in-between feeding cruised up nonchalantly under the glass, astonishing everybody with its size and grace through the water. A white tipped reef shark was seen out at the light house bombies sitting motionless on the bottom, a rare treat for the glass bottom boat. There were also turtles too numerous to count parked up over bombies, swimming through the water, and surfacing for air. It was literally teaming with life out in the water today. The visibility only improved throughout the morning so the glass bottom boat came out to the severance wreck, which is the latest dive site out here at Lady Elliot coming to grief in 1999. There wreck is in about 20m of water was covered in schools of small fish and the soft corals were clearly visible from the surface making for a magnificent sight. Right next to the wreck a shovel-nose shark was settled on the sand and gave everybody a really interesting look at its strange anatomy. This was all before anybody got in the water! Needless to say the snorkeling was off the planet and everybody came in with smiles beaming and awesome stories about what they had seen. For many it was just the start of what was a very big day in the water.
On the guided reef walk the group came across a Dolabella sea-hare that was grazing the algae off the reef. This amazing creature actually changes its colour depending on what it eats! What colour do you think you would be if you changed colour to what you eat? These individuals were blue- green and guests loved their docile nature as they slimed their way along.
The Island Discovery Tour was awesome this afternoon coming across a very fluffy mutton bird chick. This cute little guy has only recently started coming out of its hole because it’s getting so large! It was a great opportunity to observe this bird which is usually only around during the night. At the fish pool “Nigel” the silver drummer came in for a snack and the gold lined rabbit fish attracted a lot of attention with their striking colours.
After dinner guests came on a night stalk and found a bright red Land hermit crab under the lighthouse. It was scuttling along in a pretty average looking shell so it was probably on the lookout for a new space to rent. These guys are always searching for a new shell and this is another reason that Lady Elliot is a green zone, so there will always be a lot of new homes out there!
It was a huge day and for most people they were very tired but very happy - It is great to see everybody loving this Island Paradise! |
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Hermit Crab - Jess Howard
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