Just a wordy blog today due to the low visibility this week
out in the Cape Byron Marine Park resulting in not a lot of fancy photos, but
don’t be fooled, the thrills didn’t stop!
This week I buddy-ed up with a Ocean Ambassador Adrian Midwood to explore the shallows of Julian Rocks and explain exactly what my
research is about. I find myself doing this a bit, explaining myself, so these
days I tend to skip the jibber-jabber and get to the point of it all, by
experiencing it.
As we set out over the 1 metre swell through The Pass with Byron Bay Dive Centre, the
skipper Rob sends out a call to the other
dive boat skipper in the bay. “Where are the dolphins?” Within in minutes we
were powering towards a small pod of the hundreds that live in the area. The
skipper is careful to pull up well short, letting the two large and one gushingly-cute
baby dolphin make their way past us. Squeal number 1 comes
from a young European lady, who at this point I am guessing didn't grow up near
the water like I have been lucky to. I smiled from ear to ear as I watched her
almost bursting out of her skin with excitement “Oh my god!! They’re RIGHT
THERE!!!!”. The crew scampered around to balance out the boat and give everyone the chance to see the magnificent mammals gliding past.
No more time to waste, we’re only halfway to our
destination, but within minutes Adrian and I were over the side and making our
way towards my beloved sea turtles to say hello. Not far behind us were another
couple of tourists keen for the wildlife experience who had overheard why I was
there. Naturally they figured following me was a sure-bet to see a sea turtle,
and they weren’t disappointed. Within about five minutes, out of the 8-metre-visibility
gloom came along a familiar green sea turtle to this part of the rock, gliding
with the current along the vertical rock wall. Squeal number 2 comes from
tag-along-tourist #1, “A SEA TURTLE!!!!”. I smile from ear to ear and pull the
snorkel out of my mouth to turn to Adrian and say, “Did you hear that? That’s
what I live for.” That moment of a purely joyful experience in nature. Hard to find working in a sea turtle hospital.
Two, three, four green sea turtle later I talk Adrian into
venturing out into the stronger current to seek out some hawksbill turtles at “The Needles” in the shallow reef area surrounding the
rocks. The rocky reef complex forms long sand-floored valleys and canyons
abundant with marine life. I couldn’t see into the valleys today so I followed the shallowest ridge-lines along where I could see turtles feeding if there were any. Just as I was
approaching the rise of the next ridge, the valley beyond came slowly into view
and I came face to face with one of the most heart-stopping creatures of the
sea. Squeal number 3 belonged to me and me alone and every second of it was
filled with joy as I kicked slowly to try and remain motionless in the current
in the company of a magnificent manta ray. Oh my goodness resisting the urge to
touch it took everything I had. What an absolute honour that it was not afraid
of me! Adrian and I hovered there while Rob the skipper ferried tourists over to us to share the experience. The squeals, they continued.
