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Friday -a rare sighting of a female turtle stranded
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date: 10/10/2008
Author:Shay Young
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CONDITIONS
Weather: Sunny | Air Temp: 26°C | Wind: Easterly wind 20/30 knots | Water Temp: 24°C | Water Visibility: 20m | Sea State: Choppy
ISLAND LIFE
Critter Encounters:
We awoke with a change in the weather conditions with the winds from the ann Easterly direction of up to 30 knots, making the Lagoon out the front of the resort a little choppy. First on the agenda was a guided reefwalk, with a few guests braving the wind for a look at the creatures of the shallow water. Next we ventured out onto the glass bottom boat the took to the rolling waves at the lighthouse keyway out towards Second Reef for a leisurely snorkel with turtles and schools of blue-green chromis. The visibility was amazing described as being 30 metres, this coupled with nice warm water; meant an extremely rewarding experience up close and personal on the Great Barrier Reef. While on the beach is where the action was to be had as there was a rare sighting of a female turtle stranded after attempting to escape the interest of a male turtle looking for a partner to mate with.
The afternoon brought fish feeding with a higher tide; this made it great conditions in the much more protected deeper waters of the lagoon. Loads of fish emerged from hiding in the crevices to feed and entertain our guests by swimming thru their legs. The moon wrasse and flag tails all darted in as soon as the food hit the water with the diamond scale mullet and rabbitfish following not to mention our lonely friend Nigel. Nigel is our one and only silver drummer that comes to fish feeding, silver drummers are usually only seen in schools so it is certainly interesting to see Nigel has broken away from his school to grace us with his presence …. Nature is so beautiful!! Today was also the day for our white barred triggerfish that comes along now and again, this triggerfish is usually very shy hiding out the back of the fish pool darting in ever so quickly to grab the odd pellet or two …… however today he was so brave that he came and “sat” beside me as if to show off and be apart of the team.
The historical tour headed to the lighthouses to learn about and observe one of the main historical components of the island. The waters surrounding Lady Elliot is actually a major shipping area with many large cargo ships passing through; this has made for a colourful history with over 125 recorded wrecks around the island. The lighthouses therefore provide a very interesting history from one lighthouse being toppled in a storm to ghosts from the lighthouse period still “haunting” our island.
Our divers experienced the western protected side of the island to discover the Anchor Bommies this morning and a nice drift dive from Maori Wrasse to Second Reef during the afternoon. There was a North East swell passing through making the boat ride to the dive sites a little bumpy however this didn’t hinder journey as turtles were sighted mating at the surface entertaining all onboard with what seemed to be their heavy breathing . During the dive one lonely manta ray circled Second Reef with a large school of trevally. The highlight was however a small mantis shrimp found venturing from its burrow; very rarely seen during the day this sighting of this small crustacean was an incredible sight to behold.
To end a perfect day, guests had the opportunity to join Jess in the Reef Education Centre for an informative presentation on the “Ray of our Reef”.
While it may have been a windy day I can still say that today has surely proved to be another truly special day on our magnificent coral cay!
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Green Turtle stranded - Jenni Fox
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