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fascinated by the solar plant and energy regime
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date: 13/5/2009
Author:Nick Brennan
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Weather: Sunny
Wind: SE 10 knots
Water Visibility: 30m
Sea State: Chop
The visibility was simply exceptional today.
The lighthouse bommies were crystal clear through the glass bottom and were covered in green turtles. Everybody shrieked with excitement as the boat passed over them and some great photos were taken of these beautiful creatures. Out at second reef a white tipped reef shark circled back and forth around the drop off. It was out there for so long that just about everybody had a chance to swim with it. Some people that weren’t that rapt about sharks before the experience said they had a complete paradigm shift. It was great to hear people say that they were interested in learning more about this often misunderstood creature.
Later in the morning guests came on a behind the scenes tour with Laurie to hear about how an eco resort functions day to day. Guests were fascinated by the solar plant and energy regime that aims to cut our greenhouse emissions by 60%. This is just one of many positive initiatives that have been established to protect this jewel in the ocean. At an elevation of only 3m you can imagine that climate change is something ever-present on our minds.
In the afternoon some guests came into the activities centre to tell us about an injured bird. A staff member came out to have a look and found a pair of sooty oystercatchers. These birds are absolutely beautiful, Nick let the guests know about the wonderful protective feature these birds display – when they have a chick or an egg to protect they act as a decoy to predators by pretending to be injured. This is to make the would-be predator go after them and not the young. So they had been fooled this time but know now to keep a careful eye out. Even know knowing that there must be a nest somewhere Nick was unable to locate it – special vigilance is essential and the area will be closed to help the parent birds protect their eggs.
In the evening guests came along to the Dangerous Marine Creatures Presentation in the education centre. It was great for everybody to satisfy their curiosity and also to dispel a few myths that had been giving them a worry. In the end everybody that came stayed afterwards for a chat about their experiences with some of the creatures. It was a really nice way to end the day sharing knowledge about the ocean.
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White Tip Reef Shark - Al Jones
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click to download flash player