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Wednesday - lots of sights on the night reef walk
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date: 19/11/2008
Author:Laura Smith
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CONDITIONS
Weather: Fine morning, patchy cloud in the afternoon | Air Temp: 28°C | Wind: N/NE 10/20 knots | Water Temp: 26°C | Water Visibility: ~ 15 m | Sea State: Slightly choppy
ISLAND LIFE
Critter Encounters:
The evening activity yesterday was a night reef walk.
A multitude of different reef creatures appear under the cover of darkness, and the contrast between night and day-reef walking is fascinating! An ass’s ear abalone was an exciting find – it was moving at an impressive pace across the surface of the reef. Diadema sea urchins were also active, coming out of reef crevices that they inhabit during the day to feed on algae by night. It was interesting to see different fish life at nighttime too; a moray eel took everybody by surprise on the walk back to shore.
Butterflyfish and surgeonfish had adopted their night-phase colour patterns, and nocturnal cardinalfish were abundant. The cardinalfish have extraordinarily large eyes in relation to the rest of their bodies, which aids them to see better through the darkness.
Also, Goniopora corals appear just about ready to spawn! Egg bundles can be seen held in the mouths of polyps in female colonies.
Guests were charmed watching buff-banded rails and newly hatched chicks wandering around the island today. Onlookers watched as an adult rail affectionately helped its tiny chick over a ledge, picking it up by the scruff of the neck. It is very important that humans don’t pick up these chicks as it will cause the parents to abandon them. At the moment we have several families of rails with young chicks on the island.
Dive master Amy said that this afternoon’s dive was one of the best dives she’d ever been on! “First, there was a tasseled wobbegong just under the bow of The Severence (wrecked yacht), then there was a massive shovel nosed ray near the stern… then we went past The Three Pyramids and saw an olive seasnake, and a big octopus just after, in only about 10 metres of water… then we passed a leopard shark, and another seasnake, and not long after we saw a manta ray. And there were heaps of turtles around… and then five beautiful spotted eagle rays, and they all swam past in synchrony really slowly, doing this,” she said as she gestured the movement of the graceful rays with her arms. “And they didn’t even take off, they just swam past as if we weren’t even there!” Wow, what a dive! Meanwhile other divers experienced the enchantment of The Blowhole, a thrilling cavernous dive site where this morning a bronze whaler and three large grey whalers were spotted!
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Cardinal Fish - Laura Smith
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