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Turtles, sharks and moray eels
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date: 22/8/2009
Author:Jess Howard
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Weather: Warm and Windy
Air Temp: 23șC
Wind: North/North West 15-20 knots
Water Temp: 22șC
Water Visibility: ~15m
Sea State: Choppy
With the strong westerly winds this morning, divers and glassbottom boaters headed out on the eastern side, loading the boat at the southern end of the airstrip. Some different views of the coral can be admired this way. Turtles, sharks and moray eels were found in abundance.
Bird watchers found the Red Tailed Tropic Bird sitting by itself. As soon as the guide spoke, the little chick stood up and turned around to face its audience. Looking this way, it proceeded to pose for photos, yawn and simply look adorable for its admirers. A group of French guests named our little chick Rouge, the French word for red. When it came time for the Island discovery tour the Tropic bird chick was once again flagged by its parents, one on each side.
Reefwalkers, not even five steps into the lagoon, found an enormous Pincushion Seastar sitting on the top of some coral, completely flat, to be able to keep its whole body in the water at low tide. Amazing! Along the walk, a starry moray was spotted, along with a bright red Hermit crab in a Tun shell, who was very shy and not happy about being approached.
Fish feeding drew the normal crowd of Mullets and Sergeant Majors, along with many guests watching the fish nibble up their food.
By nightfall, the pirates came out to play, and heaps of guests joined in the Pirate festivities in the bar, with Coconut Bowls champion Griff Roberts taking the trophy. Balloon relays and a very competitive game of Marine Madness followed, ending with a game of Limbo in which old LEI champ Janine gave the crowd a run for their money stretching way under the limbo stick. Afterwards, guests danced up a storm in the bar, acting like pirates and enjoying paradise!
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Turtle - J Howard
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