Hi friends an family, we apologize for the greater than six month delay in our blog. We will start by catching up from our most recent trip last week (June 3rd- 6th) and then try to fill in the intervening months.
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| Sunset overlooking Airlie Beach Marina (Courtesy of Casey) |
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| Whitehaven Beach |
We were fortunate to have our third group of visitors from the USA this past week. Casey and Josh are friends of ours from university. As we have been to the Great Barrier Reef twice in the past year with different groups, first to the outer reef outside Cairns in July 2011 and then to the reef outside 1770/Agnes Waters in March 2012 we decided to pick a new location in the middle. As the Great Barrier Reef is 2600 kilometers (1600 miles) long with over 2900 separate reefs so there is a lot of reef to explore.
On Sunday we flew to Proserpine airport and took a shuttle bus into the town of Airlie Beach. We spent three nights at Marina Shores in one of their two bedroom apartments overlooking the marina. We had picture perfect weather the entire time.
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| In the clear water of Whitehaven Beach |
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On Monday we sailed out to Whitehaven Beach on the catamaran Camira with Cruise Whitsundays. The 7km (4.3 mile) beach stretches in a long crescent. The sand is very pure silica (98% pure) and white like snow. Unfortunately due to the full moon and extra high tides there were large quantities of leaves left as the tide receded taking away from how white the sand actually is. The water was very clear and calm and we could see fish swimming around us as well. We had a nice time playing in the water, swimming, and strolling along the beach.
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| The group on Camira return trip to Airlie at sunset |
We also stopped for some snorkeling in Hook Passage which is a fringing reef off Hook Island on the way back to Airlie Beach. The water visibility wasn't very good but there was a variety of corals (including soft corals) and fish present. There was also a sea turtle hanging out on the reef which we were able to visit as well.
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| At Reefworld on the Great Barrier Reef |
On Tuesday we headed out to the Great Barrier Reef with tour operator Fantasea out to their Reefworld pontoon. This pontoon has been anchored for the past 30 years near the
edge of Hardy Reef.
First we did a glass bottomed boat tour on their "semi-submersible" to get a good look at the fish and corals present on the reef (while staying dry). A staff member was present to explain what fish and coral species were were seeing and to answer our questions.
Next we suited up in our aqua stinger suits (except David) and wetsuits. As it is winter here in Australia it isn't stinger season but there is a remote chance of encountering a stinger (jellyfish) and we thought they would keep us a bit warmer as well. The water temperature was 23C (73F) but you did get cool after a bit.
We started off with a guided snorkel tour where the four of us were with a marine
biologist. We got to see a variety of fish including Pink Anemone Fish
(relatives of Nemo), Christmas Tree Worms, and a Pink-Faced Devil Fish
(if I recall correctly) that was very protective of its territory of
algae on the reef. Our guide tossed a shell in the Devil Fish's area and
it promptly picked it up and removed it out of the way which was very
cool to watch.
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| Barrier Reef Anemone Fish and Anemones |
We continued snorkeling on our own for a while and saw a variety of
fish, corals (mostly hard corals) and anemones. David was successful in capturing some excellent photos with
our underwater camera (see left and below).
Most of
the fish were found along the edge/shelf of the reef as this is the growing edge of the reef. However, some like the Devil Fish and Parrotfish were present in the shallow water on top
of the reef.
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| Parrotfish (males are brightly colored) |
While we were snorkeling along the edge of the reef a large
school of Parrotfish were heading in the same direction so we were able to observe them for quite some time.
Parrotfish nibble on the hard coral with their parrot-shaped beak (mouth) to
get to the algae. You can actually hear the fish chomping on the coral
underwater. They
grind the coral and when the poop generate sand. One fish can generate
up to 90kg (198lbs) of sand per year. We were told on our tour that
parrot fish may be responsible for generating 15% of the sand in the
ocean.
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| Crocea (Boring) Clam (species) |
The pontoon also had an underwater viewing area where you could observe
fish that were swimming by as well. By the time our boat left many areas of the reef were
beginning to become exposed during the low tide.
We had a great day out on the reef and this was the most fish we had observed in the three trips we have taken. Each area of the reef we have visited have been different with the types of coral and fish present.
