 |
|
Friday - female turtles on beaches
|
date: 3/10/2008
Author:Laura Smith
|
CONDITIONS
Weather: Sunny and warm | Air Temp: 26.3°C | Wind: E/NE 10/15 knots | Water Temp: 23°C | Water Visibility: ~ 20 m | Sea State: Calm
ISLAND LIFE
Critter Encounters:
Today the island bustled with 31 excited day guests! In addition to the 124 overnight guests already on the island, the social atmosphere around the resort is wonderful, with friends and strangers alike sharing animated stories of their island experiences. Even with our island at near-full capacity at this busy time, seclusion is still so easy to find! How lucky we are to be on an island where a private piece of beautiful coral-sand beach is always within a few minutes walk away!
Guests alighting from this morning’s planes were beaming after spotting whales from the air. They were then treated to a second view of a pod of at least 3 animals, who were spouting just off the southern end of the runway – a wonderful welcoming party! Meanwhile, guests on the snorkel safari were marveling at these incredible whales in an up close and personal experience, as an adult and calf approached the boat to within an estimated 10 metres! Amazing! The calf seemed to be playing with the adult, slapping its tail onto the surface of the water on top of the adult.
Whales were just the beginning of the excitement on today’s snorkeling safari. Reef sharks abounded, with black- tip, white-tip and grey species all being spotted. A pair of graceful white-spotted eagle rays glided by, and a curious olive sea snake followed the group for much of the snorkel.
This morning not one, but two large female turtles had beached themselves on our eastern shore, not more than 30 metres from the front door step of guests’ Reef Units! This is not too uncommon an occurrence at this time of year. From September to November, sea turtles are breeding in the waters around Lady Elliot Island. Mature male sea turtles are particularly fervent in their pursuit of females. The two females seen this morning had probably beached themselves temporarily in an attempt to escape the males. Some early-rising guests were lucky enough to see these turtles at close range before the rising tide retrieved them.
|
|
Turtle - Laura Smith
|
click to download flash player