Photos from the great barrier reef

I traded up to a rental camera for our last day of diving the great barrier reef. The photos are a bit better. Here are some of the more interesting ones (not necessarily those best, but at least they are interesting.)

A moorish idol 

Giant clam

Another clam

 Turtle! (out of 12 dives, this was the only one we saw)

This is Greg, one of the Maori Wrasse resident on the reef.

The boat's photographer gets first dibs.

They are not actually social, they just come visit because there is some free food available from the guides.

Not sure what this one is...

My best shark shot, they tend to stay far away (at least during the day)

Some shots of the coral

Pink

Fan coral

This little guy on the left was constantly in front of the camera, so close it was hard to actually get a good shot of him.

Though a a little shaky, the schools of electric blue fish are fun to film.

Diving With Dimwits

Today's adventure was a day aboard the SilverSonic visiting the Agincourt reefs. We've relocated up the coast slightly to beautiful Port Douglas and as a perk we can access some of the less visited sections of the GBR marine park.

Though the day wasn't a total disaster, I can certainly say I've learnt my lesson.

• One day trips that cater to all types of reef visitors = bad.
• -Multi-day trips (liveaboards) for divers = better.

This isn't a slight on the SilverSonic, her crew or their business model in general. It's just that the one day trips need to be lowest common denominator type affairs.

I heard that if ignorance is bliss, then tourists must be in heaven. Well, that certainly applies to some of the people on our dive trip yesterday.

The boat has a policy that all divers must be guided (even if you are certified). So, the boat puts six certified divers together with a guide. In hindsight, this is a good policy as it means there will always be a bit of supervision. But it's also like group work in grade school, where you're assigned a 'team' and the decent students have to pick up the slack for the incompetent ones.

Our group included one person who was a beginner. From a diving perspective she couldn't swim, had serious buoyancy control issues, and most importantly had no self awareness of her gear or body position in the water. As part of our pre-trip briefing we have all been lectured on the delicacy of the reef. If you're a beginner, keep your distance and don't touch anything. That message didn't sink in though.

For example, here she is milliseconds from bumping into the reef, and again as she turns around wondering what delicate coral she's just crushed.

It's one thing to be a beginner, that's forgivable. It's another to not care at all.

Near the end of our first dive you're required to wait around while the photographer takes your picture. This person, so intent on getting a photo with her buddy, uses a coral covered bommie to push off so she can swim about 5 meters. While I'm watching, completely shocked, she then sits down on the reef for her photo.

Fin contact with reef

Pushing off the reef

Sitting on the reef.

Let's recap. She SITS DOWN ON THE REEF. It's the great barrier reef folks, the world's largest single structure made up of connected organisms, visible from space, containing 1/3 of the worlds soft corals, it's a cornerstone of our entire planet's biodiversity. And she's sitting on it. What's worse, neither the guide nor the photographer did anything about it.

I just don't have the words. The GBR is a is also a gigantic tourist draw (we're here) and a significant part of Australia's tourism industry ($5 billion per annum). In the last 20 years, it's lost 1/2 of it's coral coverage. Wikipedia lists climate change, pollution, crown-of-thorns starfish and fishing as the primary threats to the health of the reef system.

So sad as it is, I guess the message here is that if you want to  come see it, visit soon. And if you do, please don't sit on it.


-E

Snorkeling Pictures

My little point and click camera is waterproof, but only up to 3 meters. Because of that it can only go out snorkeling. On our last day on the liveaboard, we decided to skip one of the dives and snorkel instead.

The camera has been pretty good so far, but it's not great underwater. (Certainly it can't be user error that so many of the photos came out blurry and super green!)

There are many wonderful photographers who have done a much better job than me (and have break equipment), but at least I can say that I actually took all of the photos below.

Spotted puffer fish

This is a wrasse (some kind) and it was huge

Finger coral

The reef

Millions of little blue fishes

Giant clam (but this ones a baby)

Giant clam, about 1.5 m long (I'm not talking about SP)

One of my favorites, a parrot fish (being cleaned)

Another favorite, the giant trevally (at left)

How to get bitten by a reef shark

The reefs have lots of sharks, a number are over 2 meters long. As expected, they make you feel a little small and evoke the stereotype of vicious man-eating, razor-mouthed monsters.

Step One - find a shark (or many sharks)

The best time to see sharks is at night. The lights of the boat shine on the water, attracting schools of small silver fish (snack sized fish). In turn, medium fish come to chase around and eat the little ones (appetizers). And bigger fish come to eat the medium ones (tapas). And the sharks come to eat the bigger fish (entrees). It's not very orderly, but it is fun to watch.

Step Two - get the sharks primed.

It helps that the boat serves a small amount of fresh red meat to the sharks. The smell of blood really does get them going. They smack into each other, splashing around, unable to find the tiny piece of meat. (Most often a bold medium sized fish gets in on the action and the meat is gone before the sharks even know what happened.)

Step Three - jump in the water.

It's more fun to watch the sharks from the water, so most people suit up and dive in to watch them first hand. Having a flashlight helps you see them close up too.

Also, remember that lights attract the snack sized fish, so with flash light in hand, you become the director of the evening buffet.

Step Four - getting bitten.

If you want to get bitten by a shark, you need to swim up behind them somehow disguising your smell. Next, you grab it around the neck and put it in a headlock. They are slippery, so hold tight. Open it's mouth with your free hand and stuff your arm in. Now, give it a good smack up side the head. It may bite you, or it may swim away.

We completed all of the above steps, except number 4.

Sharks have a very good sense of smell and they can sense vibrations in the water (like a struggling fish). But their eyesight isn't very good and they are a bit cumbersome. I don't think they're terribly smart either.

The truth is that the sharks don't like humans at all and are skittish. The most common way to get bitten is to accidentally step on one in shallow water. Though swimming with the sharks was fun, I like the fish that are not as scared of humans more.


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When on the top deck of the boat you get one bar of reception. Not enough for pictures, but at least I can get a short post out.

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Backpackers in Cairns

Today started with a 5 hour flight from Auckland to Cairns Australia. We chased the sun, arriving at 10 am local time.

I had low expectations for Cairns. It's billed as the "gateway to the Great Barrier Reef" and basically it's the transportation hub for Queensland (the northeastern part of OZ). Most recommendations are to just pass through.

The Great Barrier Reef as seen from the plane.

But it's actually quite nice. It has almost decent internet, cycling lanes(!), lots of parks, a scenic promenade, public fitness classes, neat kids jungle gyms, good dining, real stores and a free outdoor 4800 sq m salt water pool, aptly named the lagoon. (They even have there own Ironman). Today it was 28'C, a bit of very high cloud with 99% humidity.

The lagoon, still open at 7pm.

Cairns must also have the highest number of backpackers per capita in the entire world. (I have know idea if that's true, but it's seriously overrun with unshowered, hungover, passport toting 20-somethings.)

But when in Rome, do as the Romans do. So we checked into a hostel. A big one. Though we did 'splurge' on a room with a double bed an a private ensuite, so that's kinda cheating.

The courtyard at our hostel, Caravellas

Our hostel happens to come with a free dinner. For those that have travelled the backpacker trail, it's worth mentioning that these types of deals are pretty common and baked into the business model.

Here's how it works. Your "free dinner" voucher is actually for the local bar. The deal doesn't start until relatively late at night, 7pm in this case. There is some small print. First you have to buy a drink from the bartender, then, with drink in hand, you line up to order dinner. The dinners are pretty basic, but for a small cost you can upgrade so something more substantial. By the time you've ordered, you've finished your first drink, so you might as well get another. Etc.

The lineup outside the bar for the "free dinner".

Everything is fairly reasonably priced, and before you know it the bar is packed and most people are totally sloshed. The business, in turn, packs in a full crowd of hungry, thirsty and still unshowered 20-somethings even on a Monday night.

It's really fun people watching. I had a blast. (The photographic evidence doesn't really need publishing on the WWW though.)

Tomorrow's post is an introduction to Australian wildlife (not including the 20-somethings).

-E