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a hawksbill turtle coming less than a metre under them
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date: 15/6/2009
Author:Nick Brennan
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Weather: Perrrrrrrrrrrrfect! Postcard day!
Wind: Nil
Water Temp: 22ºC
Water Visibility: ~20 m
Sea State: Calm
Today was truly like a postcard with a full sky of sunshine lighting up the reef and its colours.
The ocean was once again perfectly flat making conditions absolutely supreme for the glass bottom boat. Guests were hardly able to contain their excitement when at the lighthouse bommies the boat stopped over a Manta that was being cleaned by an assortment of reef fish. These giant creatures have a lot of surface area and are constantly getting covered in tiny parasites. This is not very good for the Manta Ray so they park themselves over some specialised little areas of coral where lots of fish come out and eat all the little parasites. They get a good feed and the Manta stays nice and healthy. How’s that for a good deal!
Two children snorkeling inside second reef received the thrill of a lifetime with a hawksbill turtle coming less than a metre under them. It went round and round looking at them before surfacing for a breath. Just after this Frank the resident loggerhead turtle came by for a visit. Guests were very impressed by the size of this full grown male that probably weighs in around 250kg! What a monster!
The divers had a wild afternoon on the Eastern side of the island sighting in excess of sixty Manta Rays. Project Manta was there to capitalize - this afternoon gave them plenty of data that’s for sure. It was an incredible dive that had guests truly mesmerised. A pod of dolphins came and rode the bow wave of the dive boat on the way back in only re-enforcing what a special day it was.
In the evening Kathy Townsend presented a slide show on the current findings of Project Manta. It was a fantastic talk, we always love having the manta team here because they bring exciting news every time. They currently have a catalogue of Manta rays in excess of 250 individuals. Each Manta has some unique spots on their underbelly and these can be used to identify individuals like a fingerprint on a human. They have currently re-sighted 16 individuals at Stradbroke Island and Lady Elliot Island indicating there is a definite migration pattern. Even this is a remarkable discovery because there is so little known about them.
An aim of project Manta is to get Manta’s listed as a protected species. It is absolutely crazy that they aren’t already considering the massive lack of information regarding their biology and the fact that even conservative estimates assume these creatures live to fifty years with a very long period before they become sexually mature. We can only hope the powers that be will stand up and take notice of this incredible creature once the results are published. Thanks to the whole of Project Manta for making it a great evening of education!
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Hawksbill turtle - J Howard
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click to download flash player