Without missing a beat, the lot of us was in the water at sunrise ready to see our first glimpse of the famed Great Barrier Reef. It did not disappoint. Though I will, because I forgot the go-pro and have zero underwater pictures to offer you today. Though the visibility was low, the water was choppy and cold, I jumped straight in...and about ate a jelly fish. There were heaps of tiny ones floating all around us. Then I swam with about 5 different sea turtles, followed two huge sting rays, gazed at numerous giant clams, and countless other creatures and corals.
The afternoon was dedicated to research. We swam out to the crest of the reef and measured the different sections of using a transect line and a quadrat, determining the percent ratios of several different types of benthic covers. It was exciting and different to have something to focus on in addition to the beautiful reef. Everyday, at low tide, the reef is exposed to the surface. It rather looks like a bunch of dead coral, or brown rocks, but it is in face part of the living reef. My instructor, Trish, was telling me that the type of coral that is exposed has a special mucus that is excreted to protect the coral from being damaged during this time, and or course all of the zooxanthellae are safely tucked away for the exposure.
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Heron Island looks like just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the mainland, but I was surprised to see that that from the shores of this oasis, Australia is just barely visible. After a 2 hour ferry ride from Gladstone, we saw the reef sticking out of the low tide surrounding Heron Island, our home for the next 10 days. It is a first for me, being in such a remote location. The calls of hundreds of different bird species surround us, the only permanent residents on this isle. The sunset was stunning, setting just over the blurred outline of the mainland, contrasting with the glassy water of the Coral Sea. We played in the water at dusk, and to us amateurs, everything looks like a deadly cone snail. I'm quite knackered now, but I am looking forward to our first snorkel, first thing in the morning.
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