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Tuesday - Turtles everywhere!
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date: 18/11/2008
Author:Jess Howard
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CONDITIONS
Weather: Sunny, hot, scattered clouds | Air Temp: 29ºC | Wind: East/South Easterly 10/15 knots | Water Temp: 26ºC | Water Visibility: ~25 metres | Sea State: Picture perfect
ISLAND LIFE
Critter Encounters:
This morning began with a sudden downpour at 7am (but only on the western side of the island !!), just to dampen everything, and then the sun came out and made the day nice and hot. Turtles, turtles and more turtles early morning walkers reported heaps of tracks (27 sets in fact!) this morning heading every which way as evidence that more Green turtles are laying their eggs every night.
On the historical tour we took a step back in time to learn of all the different ventures the island has endured over the years. It turned out to be difficult to look at the lighthouse this morning, because that meant turning our backs on the beautiful colours of the clear calm water. Luckily all the guests were heading out on the glassbottom boat today as well. Talk about brilliant!!! Turtles swarmed around the boat, eyeing everyone off, and sticking around at the snorkel sight when everyone jumped in the water.
The Biggest excitement encountered on Lady Elliot today was a Loggerhead turtle NESTING at 10am in front of the reef units. She was finishing her last stages of digging when she was discovered, then watched intently by both guests and staff as she began laying her eggs. Once she was finished at 11am, she started patting the sand down on top, then made her way back down to the water. The whole process only took about an hour and a half. She is the first Loggerhead that has successfully nested this year on Lady Elliot WOOHOO!!!
Also so very exciting news for our tropic birds, Sebastian, our first Red-Tailed Tropic bird for this season (hatched September ) has finally worked out how to fly!! He’s flown the coop and all ready to be on his own.
Fish Feeding was at the end of high tide today, so the fish pool was filled with masses of fish including Nigel the big lonesome Silver Drummer and the two Golden-lined Rabbitfish also decided to make an appearance today.
As we venture into late afternoon and the sun sinks below the horizon, we look forward to more turtles nesting and more coral spawning. Never a dull day here in paradise!
Special Guests:
Of course the beautiful Loggerhead turtle “K22000” who nested on the island today, and welcome back to Photographer Darren Jew who arrived this afternoon to capture the coral spawning phenomenon!
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Staff with Loggerhead Turtle - Jenni Fox
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