Turtles of Ningaloo

It's not everyday you get to crawl around on a beach in the dark commando style getting sand absolutely everywhere. But turtles are awesome and this area is well known for them. It does help that it's currently turtle mating and egg laying season here too. 

Last night we went to one of the nesting beaches beside the Jurabi Turtle Center and following the "turtle code of conduct" watched two turtles making nests and laying eggs. I don't have any photos of it though (no lights allowed).

Basically we hung out after sunset and waited. Once it was good and dark out (and we had almost given up) we saw a very large black shape making it's way up the beach. 

We sat and watched as she found a good spot and processes to dig a pit at least a couple of sq meters in size. 

While we were sitting there watching the first turtle, we noticed that one of rocks where the waves were crashing was getting closer. What's the chance that a turtle will land directly below you on the beach? Apparently pretty high. 

So while turtle number 2 starts her way up the beach, SP and I are scrambling to get out of the way without being noticed (you don't want to scare them). 

We hung out for a couple of hours, watching the turtles nest, the stars come out and the moon rise. 

The next day we went back to look at the nests and see how many had laid that night. Just the one short section of beach had 5 busy ladies on it. 

Big turtles. Either green, loggerhead or hawksbill - not sure.

The nest of Turtle #1

Lucky for us, the turtles don't end there. While snorkeling today we hung out with a green turtle for awhile. I'm not very good at holding the camera steady, but here is a video and a few photos. 

Shaky Turtle Video, by me. 

Between the octopi and the turtles I did manage to take a few photos of the reef, more of those tomorrow.

-E

Diving the Navy Pier

Today we dove the Point Murat Navy Pier. It's an interesting and unique dive, rated by many as one of the top dives in the world. (And yes, the gate guards do an ID check).

I certainly saw a lot of animals today that I may never see again. Some of the species only live in this one area. 

There are a few reasons that it is so densely populated. For starters, the pier is the only thing around and it provides shelter from storms, currents, etc. Secondly, the site, because it's an active naval pier, is not allowed to be fished or even approached for about 1km around. And lastly, the area has been protected for over 40 years, giving it time to get established.

Some of the animals we saw today:

• Enormous schools of giant trevally, apparently they scare off some of the sharks because there are so many. 
• Barracuda and spangled emperor (hanging around with the trevally)
• Lots of friendly giant cod, bigger than me.
• A moray eel with the circumference of a soccer ball. (There were lots of morays, neon green ones, white ghost morays.)
• Sharks. Probably a dozen or so white tipped reef sharks, I inadvertently came within a meter or so of one (whoops).
• Wobbegon sharks, two of then.
• Two octopi, a grey one and a black one, smallish. 
• A frog fish and a stone fish.
• Bat fish, no doubt hiding from the trevally.
• Lionfish bigger that a rugby ball.
• Oddly coloured nudibranch.
• Huge parrot fish (though I think the site could use some more as the fire weed is getting out of control.)
• Black catfish like creatures with the body of an eel.
• Large shoals of tiny fish and lots of other finned critters I just can't name.

I have mixed feelings about this dive site though. The visibility is so-so. Our dive had about 7 meters. Also, the pier itself casts a shadow making it dark too. Because the pier is very solidly built with large crisscrossing beams, it essentially creates confined spaces about 5 meters square. If you have buoyancy control problems or are unable to swim with just your fins, then this will be a problem. To make things more challenging, there is almost always some current and it's important to time the dive just right. When we started our dive the current was so strong you had to swim hard to stay in one spot.

Neither SP or I were really psyched for this dive. SP had some equipment problems and I wasn't feeling well. All in all, it was a unique and amazing experience, but I think this dive is really meant for people who are keen on strange environments.

A good video snippet of the area

A wobbegon shark (ours had a little less beard)

Some of my pics of the pier:

The entrance (those are towers for VLF communication with submarines)

A side dolphin

The support beams, which continue below the surface.

Cute sniffers, landing strips and naval bases

Today we relocated from Port Douglas to it's polar opposite, Exmouth. (Technically, it's not the polar opposite, but for all intents and purposes, it might as well be.)

We traveled from one side of Australia to the other. Swapping a major tourist center, with every tour package and convenience imaginable, for a tiny outback town, with only 4 'restaurants'. Instead of wet jungles, stingers and crocodiles, we have expanses of red dessert, kangaroo mobs and wild emus.

Before getting to Exmouth however, we had a quick layover in Perth. On exiting the terminal, I received a welcome of the most adorable kind. Paws landed on my legs as a set of soft brown eyes looked up at me, with its tail wagging the beagle stuffed his nose into my purse. I had officially been selected by the 'Detector Dogs'.

Airport security search you right then and there. In this case, it was in front of the arrivals area, surrounded by a hundred people waiting for other passengers. I didn't really mind having my luggage drooled on though, the dog was really that cute. He kinda made my night.

It should be noted that the dog was right, only moments before I had unloaded a container into the 'quarantine amnesty' bin. Aka, the last opportunity to chuck things you're not supposed to have before being fined (and searched, and drooled on). My adorable detector dog singled me out because I had previously been carrying honey. Apparently honey can be a disease vector for bees. And I guess the smell lingers too.

After our 6 hour layover we were back in a plane heading north. Other than the unending expanse of red, Exmouth airport is the first thing that stands out about this place. Though the airport terminal is tiny, the airstrip is enormous. Our plane used just 1/3 of its length. Also, before landing, the pilot informed everyone that we were landing at an active military establishment and that photography was prohibited.

Exmouth has a number of military related establishments. Many of them were initially built in WWII, others date from the 60's. Some are actually owned by the US government. I gather that they are kept up to date (like the massive runway) just in case.

On the outskirts of Exmouth is a US naval base. Now primarily run by the Australian police, the base employs ~200 of the 1800 full time residents of the town. The base contains a number of outbuildings that are costly to keep up, so I guess they rent a few of them out. (From a power perspective, having businesses on site helps with maintenance because the power generators need to be kept functional through use.)

While I wasn't expecting to stay on an active military base while here in Australia, it happens that one of the nicer hotels is located on-site in former military barracks. So far the hotel is great. The 10 inch thick cinder block walls, reinforced with rebar and filled with cement, keep the room cool and quiet.

You might be wondering at this point why we would come here. The area is home to the cape range national park and the ningaloo reef. So basically we're going to continue to snorkel, dive, work on our tans and hang out with the local wildlife.

The view from the plane.

Though photography of the base itself is also prohibited, I did take a pic of our room and the barracks to share. Unrenovated barracks on the base.

Our hotel, despite the reno and landscaping, foundationally is still like the building above.

Our hotel room, including an accidental self portrait.

Tomorrow we visit another active military establishment, as we're going to dive the navy pier.

 -E