0830 (13342 km) Had toast and muesli for breakfast. Then got ready and packed to go for the Manta Ray Cruise. We brought some boxes with all our swimming gear, snorkels, fins, wet suits, dry clothes, etc. There was a lot to take. Got on the bus with 13 others (some divers, some snorkellers) and went to the jetty to get onto the boat. As we were going out to the reef, we saw two turtles mating. When they saw us, they quickly ceased their amorous session and promptly disappeared beneath the waves.
1000 (13342 km) The first stop was Asho's Gap. It was 11 metres deep at 23 degrees Celsius. Good thing we had wet suits. We swam to the reef and there was a gap. We swam through the gap single file. On the other side, on a large cabbage coral were sharks! It was a Reef Shark Cleaning Station. Reef sharks would sit on the coral and wrasse fish would clean them. Fortunately, the reef shark did not have humans on their menu. They are generally harmless to humans unless provoked. A bit further along the reef was a cave and in that cave lived a grey nurse shark. We were told we might have to dive down to look into the cave. Luckily for us, the shark decided to come out of the cave and had a swim outside so we could all have a good look. The following were in the area on that dive:- Grey nurse shark
- Goat fish
- Lizard fish
- White tip reef shark
- Flutemouth
- Scorpion fish
- Clarke's anemone fish
- Gold spot trevally
- Spangled emperor
- Blue green chromis
- Cabbage coral
- Staghorn coral
1130 (13342 km) The spotter plane found a dugong, we saw it come up for air a few times. Then the plane found a manta ray for us to swim with. Since there were so many of us, we went in groups. It was magnificent to see the manta ray swimming around. The water was quite deep, about 7 metres and there was some murkiness so it wasn't totally clear but we definitely saw the manta ray and swam along with it.
1230 (13342 km) The spotter plane also found a whale. We went up to it and saw it was a mother humpback whale with its calf. Amazing! As we were watching, a large white shadow emerged from the depths and when it broke the surface, we saw that it was another humpback whale. We speculated that it was probably the father. It is marvellous to see these large mammals swimming, spouting, spy hopping (poking the head above the water to spy on surrounding area) and diving.
1330 (13342 km) Had lunch of "make your own" sandwiches.
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| Ming Kim and Chi Keen during the snorkel to Lottie's Lagoon |
1430 (13342 km) As we boated to the second reef dive, we saw some turtles in the turtle sanctuary. In the second reef dive at Lottie's Lagoon, we actually saw a few turtles swimming around the reef. It was about 10 metres at 23 degrees Celsius. The reef wall was quite fascinating, it had lots of different corals and lots of marine life. There was even a four legged sea star. The area had the following:
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- Christmas tree worms
- Giant clam
- Clarke's anemone fish
- Sail fish
- Cat fish
- Green moray
- Flutemouth
- Nudibranch
- Lagoon ray
- Fantail ray
- White eyed moray eel
- Stripey catfish
- Gold spot trevally
- Sea star
- Green turtle
1730 (13342 km) Went to find the photographer from the cruise to have a look at the photos she took on the dive. On the way there, we saw a very tame bungarra (sand goanna) that lived behind the fridge of her place. We were very impressed with the huge reptile calmly walking in front of us as it crossed the backyard, totally ignoring us.
1800 (13342 km) Had dinner of Indomie, cous cous and meat balls.
1800 (13342 km) Had dinner of Indomie, cous cous and meat balls.
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