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Published: April 3rd 2010
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EXMOUTH - W.A.
Exmouth, pronounced as spelled, not Exmth, is a tiny town located near the Ningaloo Reef. The area was known for “mother of pearl jewelry” until oil and gas were discovered and the small Indian Ocean ports were developed for use in WWII. The town was established as a planned community in 1962 when the US set up a communications center here. In 1999, a cyclone raced through, winds recorded at 262 miles per hour before the measuring equipment broke and have been estimated at over 350 miles per hour at the peak. It is the highest recorded wind speed on the globe. The town was virtually washed and blown away. Telephone poll made of railroad rails were bent 45 degrees. Concrete roofs disappeared in the wind. Exmouth has been rebuilt as a tourist destination. The reason is the Ningaloo Reef.
The reef is 160 miles long and home to more than 250 species of coral and uncounted tropical fish. The one animal most snorkelers want to see is the whale shark. These big boys gather here around the time of the annual coral spawn that has just happened. They range in length from 15 to 20 meters but
are gentle giants. I had hoped to swim with the whale sharks but it was not my day. While our boat moored at the reef another boat was passing into a pod of whale sharks and those folks had the snorkel of a lifetime.
Any day on the water is a great day. We saw emus and a kangaroo on a drive through the Cape Range National Park to the water. Then it was on to a zodiac for a choppy ride to the “mother ship”. This was your typical dive boat with easy access to the water. A woman who evidently has MS inspired me. She made her way down the sandy beach with her canes and into the zodiac with little trouble. She was on another dive boat so I didn’t see whether she went snorkeling but I expect she did.
Once on the dive boat we headed for our snorkel spot. Unfortunately the water was filled with particulates, probably coral spawn, and murky. With the bright sunshine above the colors should have been brilliant but were all pale blues and greens. We were about 20” above the reef and the fish were hard to identify. I did
see the blue spotted butterfly fish and some parrotfish, a Moorish idol and lots of small colorful wrasse. My pictures were a big bust. I may have to buy a disposable camera for the Great Barrier Reef. After lunch we went to another spot that was not so deep. The water still wasn’t clear but I enjoyed the corals anyway. The crew was great and did everything they could to make us comfortable.
The Ningaloo Reef area is still undeveloped but you can tell that the pressure is there. New vacation homes are under construction. Time will tell is it will suffer the fate of other natural treasures that are loved to death.
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