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not our normal two sooty oystercatchers but 3
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date: 29/6/2009
Author:Jess Howard
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Weather: Sunny and cloudless skies
Air Temp: 25ºC
Wind: Variable winds 5-10 knots
Water Temp: 21ºC
Water Visibility: 10 m
Sea State: Slight
Beautiful weather, beautiful creatures and beautiful temperature. Could we ask for anything more?
To start with, the divers had everyone in a buzz when “Boris”, our affectionately named Hammerhead shark was spotted in the morning dive. He flitted in and out of sight, no bother to anyone but stirring up the excitement for the glassbottom boat goers. On the boat, no sight of Boris, but whales spouting on the horizon kept everyone in awe as the watching blow after blow of one, two even three whales! A turtle swam under the glass giving everyone onboard a close look at his beautiful shell and long slender flippers.
Island discoverers found the Red Tailed Tropic Bird under suite 3, sitting quietly and not perturbed by its elated afternoon visitors. Another exciting find today was not our normal two sooty oystercatchers but 3! Yes those reported incidents of sooty oyster catchers acting injured may have, if fact, paid off! We were not able to ever pinpoint the location of their nest but here as the photo proves they did in fact rear a chick – Well done to our sootys! (The one the left with the yellow tip to its beak is the young one!)
Fish feeding invited some somewhat unorthodox visitors, where whilst the fish ate, whales breached in the background over and over and over again. After fish feeding, guests at the Lagoon Bar watched another whale moving south in the way of breaches, jumping up just metres from where it landed, at least ten consecutive times! What a show!!
Night Reefwalkers gathered to wander the reef by night to see what we could find. The answer: EVERYTHING!! A decorator crab, carefully camouflaged by his collection of algae and sponges, Ass’s Ear Abalone, two in the same area, one little Epaulette shark who stayed motionless until everyone had spotted him, two small scorpionfish sitting on top of the coral, nocturnal sea cucumbers who shrank into the darkness as soon as a torch was shone near them, and one lone Lionfish who made a show of swimming carefully into the light and then returning to his safe coral cave of darkness! An amazing adventure for everyone!
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3 sooties - J Fox
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