Lady Elliot Island, Australia- Part 1
Get ready for take off. Join us as this weeks travel story begins with a small passenger plane trip and we get front row seats!
33 second video.
Keep your eyes on the water. It’s humpback whale migration season and they are breaching like crazy.
Humpback whales.
Here’s home for a week. Eighty four miles off the Eastern coast of Australia, Lady Elliot Island lays at the southern end of The Great Barrier Reef.
Despite it’s small looking appearance covering about 110 acres, we could have spent weeks here. The island is a classified as a “Green Zone”, which is the highest possible level of protection granted by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. The difference in abundance of wildlife encounters was significant with that level of protection. Animals have been coming here for years with no human predators, fishing or pollutants. The diversity of wildlife viewing and diving was a class all it’s own.
1.48 minute long video.
At about the 44 second mark you can hear a humpback whale singing.
At about the 44 second mark you can hear a humpback whale singing.
This was one of the first manta rays we saw. I called her Alice. I couldn’t tell if this manta was actually a male or female, but to me, as I swam with her multiple times she became Alice.
Female mantas tend to be larger and are friendlier. If a manta is swimming circles around you, saying hello, while you are in the water, chances are pretty good she’s a female.
Both female and male mantas have two pelvic fins and males have two claspers as well. All that’s happening back by the tail with juveniles looking the same. I was too excited to be able to tell the difference. I just loved the mantas.
Mantas are identified by their own unique markings on their underside. Organizations like Project Manta work toward identifying individuals mantas and tracking their migration patterns.
1.46 min video.
This manta we swam with several times and I called her ‘Blackie.’ When swimming with mantas it important to follow the code of conduct for observing these gentle giants. In essence when we would see a manta swimming around we would calmly float in the water. Many mantas, if you don’t approach them, will actually become curious about you and have a swim by to say hello.
52 second video.
Don’t be intimidated by that big, open mouth coming at you. Mantas are plankton eaters and filter their food. And no, they do not have a harmful barb. They are a gentle giant cruising through the oceans without strong protection status and the species is listed vulnerable on IUCN- International Union for Conservation of Nature.
By now we have been out in the water all day. It’s time to catch the sunset, grab a shower, dinner and crash into bed. We’ll be up early for diving.
As this sun is setting, it will rise again, just as this post will be continued next week. The experiences of Lady Elliot Island could not be confined to a single post. Be sure not to miss it!
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Wow, a two part post, can’t wait for the next instalment. About how big ARE these manta rays?
These mantas were around eight feet.
WHAT A THRILL TO BE IN THE WATER WITH THESE HUGE CREATURES IN THIER NATURAL HABITAT!
Yeah, there was just so much wildlife just off the shore…like twenty feet into the water and bamm! There were mantas everywhere. Almost every day. It was just such a special place.
Great post. I really loved this one this week. There were great photos, great videos, and great reading. One of my favorite posts!
Thanks. We are excited to get some video out there. Lady Elliot is one of our most favourite experiences!