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Published: April 11th 2010
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Yes folks, a day on the Great Barrier Reef - the World’s largest living ‘thing’ - and can be seen from space!
A big sigh of relief when we woke up and found the promised improvement in weather had arrived just in time for our big day out on the Great Barrier Reef. The 90 minute transfer over to the Marine World platform seemed to take an eternity but we finally arrived, quickly put on our masks and flippers and were soon out in the water.
Amazingly, one of the first sites was a gigantic blue fish about 3 foot by 2 foot closely followed by a scuba diver with a camera. Unfortunately, this rather unsettled Valerie, who hates having her picture taken at the best of times, and heralded a rapid return to the platform! Luckily we soon got back in, swam away from the other groups and, after Valerie had ditched her flippers and I’d found a way to safely stow them up my t-shirt, we really started to enjoy the reef! (I had actually stopped screaming by then!!)
Our impression was that the coral was some of the best we’d ever seen, coming in
a wide variety of shapes and building into complex structures in a rainbow of colours. We were lucky that a low tide meant we were able to float just above it. The fish were not bad either, not as many as we’d seen in Borneo, but certainly some bigger fish and the same fantastic array of colours, shapes, and patterns. After around 90 minutes we were starting to prune although our decision to return to base was somewhat hastened by a hair like stinger wrapping itself around my arm - with all the warnings it seemed sensible to get it checked - a sprinkling of vinegar meant I was fine but smelt like a fish supper!
We decided to take a quick trip on a semi-submersible before lunch which was really good. Sitting under the waterline with windows on either side gave a good view of the reef around, although you had absolutely no idea of where you were in relation to base. It was also a good chance to take some photos of the reef which I hope will give some indication of what it’s like for those that have never been.
A buffet lunch was served
up just as we arrived back and then a chance to see them feeding the fish which we did from inside an underwater observation area - another chance to take some shots, although it seemed to attract larger less colourful fish than we tended to see whilst snorkelling. (Thank goodness is all I can say on that one!!)
Then it was back in the water for another snorkelling session, Valerie far more at home this time clutching onto a noodle and skirting the edges of the reef in much deeper water than before (clutching is probably an exaggeration ... I’d probably describe it more as clinging on for dear life ...!). As a result, we saw many bigger fish, often hiding in gaps around the reefs edge and only occasionally venturing out. My favourite were a couple of fish that looked as if they’d slapped on some bright red lippy before venturing out for the day! Then there were the fish swimming backwards! In hindsight, I guess most fish can swim backwards if they need to get out of a hole, but this small shoal looked most odd. I’d just about convinced myself that the tapered front was possibly
not the tail and the eye two thirds the way down the body was an illusion when they switched direction. In unison, they propelling themselves the other way, seemingly by changing the way they rippled the long fin on the top of their bodies. Perhaps you had to be there but I’ve never seen the like.
Another new sight were the Giant Sea Clams - about 8 inches across, with bright blue wavy lips, they looked identical to some of the coral around until they opened up to siphon the waters.
We timed our arrival back at the pontoon perfectly as the boat departed in 20 minutes, just time then to shower and get changed - where had the time gone? The journey back seemed to drag especially as we were yet again the last to be dropped off. (But oh! What a wonderful day!)
(and in case anyone’s wondering ... we didn’t invest in an underwater photograph of me swimming frantically away from the big fish ... or the bigger one which I swear was the big one’s mum!!) (and yes, John did point out that the advertising literature for the reef actually had a picture
of an 8 year-old girl cuddling the blasted thing ... my assumption is that it ate her just afterwards...)
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