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Saturday - Female turtle comes in to the resort
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date: 1/11/2008
Author:Laura Smith
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CONDITIONS
Weather: Lovely! | Air Temp: 26.3°C | Wind Speed / Direction: E/NE 10/15 knots | Water Temp: 24°C | Water Visibility: ~ 20 m | Sea State: Calm
ISLAND LIFE
Critter Encounters:
Guests are buzzing after last night’s exciting critter encounter! A large female green turtle came ashore – but it didn’t just come up the beach, oh no… she dragged her heavy self half way around the resort! One guest was sitting on her balcony, enjoying the late-night tranquility of the island, when she heard unusual shuffling sounds. Upon investigation, she discovered a large female turtle hauling herself along a resort pathway. The tracks are evidence that this turtle ventured nearly the whole span of the resort, following the main coral path behind the beachfront units that runs parallel to the shore, then finding her way back down to the water directly in front of our beachfront café/bar. Amazing! Whether she nested or not is unconfirmed.
On the island tucker tour this morning, we explored what natural survival aids the island has to offer. Who would ever have thought that the core of a casuarina tree can be ground down to produce a gargle that soothes an aching tooth? Or that the middle layer of a pandanus leaf is a tough network of stringy fibres that can be easily turned into rope? Or that the flesh of sea cucumbers is a common addition to many Asian dishes? There are so many wonderful things to be discovered often in the most unexpected places!
The water has been beautifully calm lately and the temperature just perfect for lengthy snorkeling! Guests that explored the lagoon this morning were excited to encounter a black-tip reef shark. Others reported that they had seen bird wrasse courting. A woman in her eighties who had never before been snorkeling ventured out on a snorkeling tour today. Nervous to begin with, she said she was soon distracted with all the wonderful things to see, and had a terrific time! SCUBA divers are excited to report close interactions with leopard sharks, grey reef sharks, and cowtail rays. Associating with one cowtail ray was a group of Cobia, measuring up to about one metre each in length!
The moon is just a sliver in the sky at the moment, and the opportunity for stargazing could not be better! With dark, dark nights and around 80 kilometres to the light pollution of the mainland, yesterday evening’s sky was superb. Night snorkellers took advantage of the dark conditions too; bioluminescence in the water is at its most spectacular on nights like these. Tiny plankton emit a flash of blue-green light when the water around them is disturbed, and when in high densities they produce an effect like thousands of floating green stars that trail from your fingers and fins in the water. An absolutely magical phenomenon to witness!
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Island Life - Laura Smith
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