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Wednesday - Turtles were abundant
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date: 10/9/2008
Author:Jess Howard
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CONDITIONS
Weather: Sunny, warm, slight breeze | Air Temp: 23 ºC | Wind: South Easterly 10-15 knots | Water Temp: 21ºC | Water Visibility: 30+ metres | Sea State: Beautifully calm
ISLAND LIFE
Critter Encounters:
Our day began warm and sunny, with the sun rising at an early 5:52am. On the morning reefwalk, among our usual array of interesting creatures, we came upon a New Caledonia Seastar that was regrowing one of its five legs. Not only that, it was also growing a small extra leg off the newly developed leg. That’s one ambitious seastar. All seastars are able to regenerate, meaning if they lose a leg, or part of a leg, they are able to grow a new one. Also, that leg, as long as there is a piece of the centre segment, has the ability to grow a whole new seastar!
Divers this morning, at popular eastern dive sites the Blowhole and Sunset Drift were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a timid silvertip shark. Turtles were abundant both on dives and for the snorkelers on the glassbottom boat. The male turtles are quite feisty at the moment, fighting over females to mate with… a spectacular sight to see. The males will bite each other and chase one another away from their personal space.
The glassbottom / snorkel boat tour had snorkelers that were also fortunate enough to find a pod of about twenty dolphins frolicking on the surface. Day guests were animated whilst describing the movements of the pod. The very vocal humpback whales could be heard loud and clear just below the surface. Above the surface, whales were spotted on the eastern side of the island, fin slapping and breaching. The unanimous vote for the best aspect of snorkeling and diving today was the unbelievable visibility. Over 30 metres of calm clear water, filled with the exciting creatures of the reef.
On the vocal note, Red Tailed Tropic Birds were quite energetic and loud during the morning, flying just above tree level, out of sight of the solitary Frigate bird that was patrolling the southern end of the airstrip looking for smaller sea birds to harass. On the island discovery tour this afternoon, young Sebastian, our first tropic bird chick for this year, was being fed by a parent. First known sighting of feeding….AWESOME!!
Fish feeding was very popular among guests and fish alike, sporting a very full fish pool of our favourite fishy visitors.
Afternoon divers returning from an “epic drift dive from Spiders Ledge to the Lighthouse” were buzzing with the creatures they had glimpsed. A large school of big-eye trevally that seemed to move along with the dive, a Bull ray that according to one diver was “massive” and a tawny nurse shark. An amazing dive to have been on!! With the afternoon sun still warm, we wrap up the day with a volleyball tournament. Fun to be had by all ages.
So once again, Lady Elliot has exceeded expectations making it a wonderful relaxation destination.
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Three Turtles - Bryn Doerksen
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