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Tuesday - great snorkelling on western side
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date: 30/9/2008
Author:Shay Young
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CONDITIONS
Weather: Sunny with a few passing clouds | Air Temp: 25°C | Wind: SE 20/25 knots | Water Temp: 23°C | Water Visibility: 25m | Sea State: Slight Chop
ISLAND LIFE
Critter Encounters:
The island awoke to a slight change in wind direction today with the wind shifting from the North West to the South East providing perfect conditions on the westernside of the island where the Great Barrier Reef’s most accessible snorkelling is. Our guests on the glass bottom boat and snorkel tours enjoyed incredible condition.
The turtles are all still increasing in numbers in our pristine waters as mating season swings into gear with an abundance of green sea turtles being spotted lately. The turtles are quiet intrigued by human presence in the water sometimes coming in for a close and personal look at what we are up to. At times some males have been approaching guests with a twinkle in their eye …. Wondering to themselves if you are female turtle lying in wait. Guests quickly found the best thing to do in this situation is to hang vertical in the water, showing the turtle you are not what it is after !!!
The island discover tour was a great turnout with about 30 guests coming along to have a look at the vegetation on the island and some of the bird species that occur. The bridled terns have all returned in full force with a lot of them starting to establish their nesting territories; bridled terns are also known as dog terns the reason for this being the fact that they make a noise very similar to a small dog ‘yapping’. The bridled terns have an interesting nesting behaviour with the nest in a small divot in the coral along the pathways, therefore guests need to be extremely careful to not disturb these residents. Bridled terns also put on an amazing courting display somewhat similar to ‘dancing’ with the males and females mimicking each other’s moves walking around the nesting sites, and the most interesting aspect is that they return to the same nesting site each year …
The red tailed tropic birds are all doing well with all the chicks now more regularly being left alone to fend for themselves whilst mum and dad are out feeding. No more chicks have emerged yet but I would have to say the two other nests believed to have eggs must be close to emerging.
The guided reefwalk took to the water with a large group heading out along the lagoon edge to discover the wonders of the low tide environment. Tiger cowries, blue linckia sea stars, and sea hares were all sighted along with a christmas tree worm that darted back into its calcareous tube. The Christmas tree worm is so called due to its resemblance to a Christmas tree; it also has sensors over the small branches that can detect shadows and vibrations and potential predators and with lightning fast speed can withdraw back into its safe home.
For divers the western side was the ideal place to explore with Second Reef and Lighthouse Bommie showing off their splendour …… turtles, reef sharks, maori wrasse, bull rays, groupers, bat fish and lionfish were all sighted. Divers were also enchanted with whale song first so intense that it vibrated their entire bodies. This males humpback song meant that whales were close by; this song can last for half an hour or longer and has a series of verses consisting of belches, moans and grunts.
Today has surely proved to be another truly special day on our magnificent coral cay!
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Lion Fish - Mark Atkinson
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