LillBlue Pearl Bay - Blog 1
September 7th 2008 10:30
It's a hot 35 degree day in the tropics. I'm standing on a white-coral beach looking out at the glistening sea. Out there, where my friend Donna has already disappeared, is a reef called Blue Pearl Bay which is at Hayman Island in the Whitsunday’s. I'm trying to adjust my snorkel to fit my head so I can get out of the heat and jump in. There are suntanned travellers everywhere lounging on the beach. They had been dropped off by a cruising boat they are holidaying on. I try to start a conversation with a two of them, 'it's a bit hard on the feet isn't it?' I laugh because I almost lost my balance on the loose coral shards. I smile waiting for a response, they just nod and smile and say 'no inglis' apologetically in a strong accent. Its ok, I was procrastinating anyway. I really wasn't in the mood for snorkelling and only went along to keep Donna company.’ it’s ok, have a good swim' I say even if they don't understand.
This time of year (between October and February) it's strongly advised to wear a stinger suit which is a full body (blue in our case) suit made of light fabric. It's worth wearing to avoid coming out of the water covered in painful welts from jelly fish or sea lice encounters and as an added bonus it's protection from the sun. I walk over the white dead-coral beach to the waters edge, slip on my fluorescent orange flippers and plonk most ungraciously into the water.
Snorkel working, 'check' I think to myself (the first time I used a snorkel it leaked. I kept sucking in water and became very stressed but now I was becoming much more comfortable with it) As soon as I put my head under I gasped and almost choked on some water that had already snuck into my snorkel... I was completely shocked at what I saw though... there were fish everywhere!!! This only the 3rd time I’d been snorkelling and I wish I had photos for you to show you but it's just like a post card picture of the Great Barrier Reef! Spectacular!
Blue Pearl Bay is a popular drop off for cruise boats to take their guests to experience the reef. My friend Maxine told me it was busy with tourists almost every day - I quickly realised why. The view beneath was breathtaking! The colours of the coral were rich blues, purples, yellows, greens and whites, and in a variety of formations and sizes. And the fish! There were so many they were bumping into me! Small pretty pink and grey ones and larger silver schools and all kinds of other fish every colour of the rainbow. It was beautiful. This was far better than the other two sites I’d been to, I would never have expected to see such a swarm of life down here!
Then I saw it, no not a shark (although it is always hiding in the back of my mind the question 'what would I do if I saw one?'), no I spotted a huge fish, it was half my size and cruising along the bottom at a most leisurely pace. I decided to follow it. It looked like it was moving really slow but it actually was a bit of an effort for me to keep up. Then it reached the object of its desire - sadly, bread. I nearly bumped into the small tin boat of people who were throwing bread out to attract the tropical fish. I got so close to the giant fat fish I could touch it. I knew the wildlife ranger on Hayman wouldn't have been to impressed with the feeding that was going on. The wildlife on and around the island are protected and can be made ill from being fed processed foods (You can see the affects our 'human food' has on the resident cockatoos on Hayman - their feathers fall out, they look terribly dirty - balding and diseased). But I watched the flurry of fish swimming in front and around me, hypnotised by them, they were so close and unafraid, it was like being in a giant aquarium. Eventually the bread ran out and the fish dispersed and I cruised into deeper waters in search of other sights.
There was a small school of four or five fish each about a foot long cruising along the bottom, I followed them. It was interesting what happened next. I had been cruising along enjoying the underwater forest of colour and life with huge coral formations in the now deeper water, I turned my head to the side and saw beneath me and behind me was a school of small yellow and blue fish, they were swimming with me! There were maybe ten or fifteen of them only about 3 inches long each! That topped it, this was by far the best snorkel yet! I feel like I've stepped into a travel advertisement (but in those ads they aren't wearing stinger suits ha ha).
To be continued....
This time of year (between October and February) it's strongly advised to wear a stinger suit which is a full body (blue in our case) suit made of light fabric. It's worth wearing to avoid coming out of the water covered in painful welts from jelly fish or sea lice encounters and as an added bonus it's protection from the sun. I walk over the white dead-coral beach to the waters edge, slip on my fluorescent orange flippers and plonk most ungraciously into the water.
Snorkel working, 'check' I think to myself (the first time I used a snorkel it leaked. I kept sucking in water and became very stressed but now I was becoming much more comfortable with it) As soon as I put my head under I gasped and almost choked on some water that had already snuck into my snorkel... I was completely shocked at what I saw though... there were fish everywhere!!! This only the 3rd time I’d been snorkelling and I wish I had photos for you to show you but it's just like a post card picture of the Great Barrier Reef! Spectacular!
Blue Pearl Bay is a popular drop off for cruise boats to take their guests to experience the reef. My friend Maxine told me it was busy with tourists almost every day - I quickly realised why. The view beneath was breathtaking! The colours of the coral were rich blues, purples, yellows, greens and whites, and in a variety of formations and sizes. And the fish! There were so many they were bumping into me! Small pretty pink and grey ones and larger silver schools and all kinds of other fish every colour of the rainbow. It was beautiful. This was far better than the other two sites I’d been to, I would never have expected to see such a swarm of life down here!
Then I saw it, no not a shark (although it is always hiding in the back of my mind the question 'what would I do if I saw one?'), no I spotted a huge fish, it was half my size and cruising along the bottom at a most leisurely pace. I decided to follow it. It looked like it was moving really slow but it actually was a bit of an effort for me to keep up. Then it reached the object of its desire - sadly, bread. I nearly bumped into the small tin boat of people who were throwing bread out to attract the tropical fish. I got so close to the giant fat fish I could touch it. I knew the wildlife ranger on Hayman wouldn't have been to impressed with the feeding that was going on. The wildlife on and around the island are protected and can be made ill from being fed processed foods (You can see the affects our 'human food' has on the resident cockatoos on Hayman - their feathers fall out, they look terribly dirty - balding and diseased). But I watched the flurry of fish swimming in front and around me, hypnotised by them, they were so close and unafraid, it was like being in a giant aquarium. Eventually the bread ran out and the fish dispersed and I cruised into deeper waters in search of other sights.
There was a small school of four or five fish each about a foot long cruising along the bottom, I followed them. It was interesting what happened next. I had been cruising along enjoying the underwater forest of colour and life with huge coral formations in the now deeper water, I turned my head to the side and saw beneath me and behind me was a school of small yellow and blue fish, they were swimming with me! There were maybe ten or fifteen of them only about 3 inches long each! That topped it, this was by far the best snorkel yet! I feel like I've stepped into a travel advertisement (but in those ads they aren't wearing stinger suits ha ha).
To be continued....
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