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two dozen Manta Rays feeding around the lighthouse bommies
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date: 11/8/2009
Author:Nick Brennan
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Weather: Sunny and spectacular
Air Temp: șC
Wind: Variable < 5 knots
Water Temp: 20șC
Water Visibility: 20m
Sea State: Calm
Today was absolute perfection. The morning broke to clear skies, very light winds and of course humpback whales. They were consistent throughout the whole day breaching and doing the full range of tricks and behaviour on all sides of the island. We are loving the whales here at Lady Elliot and they look like they are having a pretty good time too!
The glass bottom boat steamed out over the glassy water and saw around two dozen Manta Rays feeding around the lighthouse bommies. Everybody was jumping up and down with excitement at their good fortune and thought they were the most amazing creatures. The snorkelling was also terrific. The guide took some of the kids on the boat to find Nemo. The kids had a very impressive knowledge of the fish (nemo is a clownfish!) and were ecstatic to see nemo not as a colour animation but in real life! They got some great photos on their underwater cameras and will have a great story to tell their friends when they go back to school.
In the afternoon guests came along on the island discovery tour and learnt a little bit more about the island. They were amazed to hear that the island was at one point devoid of all vegetation and mined for guano (Bird droppings). The group finished at fish feeding where everybody was rapt to see all the hungry fish swimming around their legs.
In the evening guests came on a night stalk and were blown away by the stars. The group stayed in the middle of the airstrip and discussed constellations and the milky way and agreed that it is a shame most of the world miss out on such a simple pleasure due to light pollution. It was a great way to walk off the big buffet dinner and a super end to the day.
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