Tag Archive for reef

Cairns’ Reef

The Cairns harbour has a fleet that features a number of rather astounding dive vessels. The most recent member in this fleet is the Seastar, just brought out this last year.

This beautiful brand-new charter boat is eighty feet long, and tends to make an excursion out to Seastar’s diving sites in under an hour. The vessel is without question really fast and safe, together with plenty of shaded and air-conditioned interior area.

Seastar Cruises has always prided itself on offering a very distinctive as well as personalized cruise, and they are actually evolving their specific operations to enhance the small group feel which these products have usually provided.

We love the fact that the business owners regulate the levels aboard to exclusively forty people, extremely well beneath the actual total capacity of the particular boat; this should tell you there is certainly lots of space on board. By using a swifter vessel they may leave a little less early on, but still end up being the very first charter boat to travel to Michaelmas Cay, consequently snorkelers as well as birdwatchers get it just about all to themselves. This particular tour is actually the A-list escape designed for birdwatchers that want to combine an ideal reef cruise with an an opportunity to witness exotic seabird species.

A quicker trip out there also means that significantly more precious time can be spent on Michaelmas Cay as well as Seastar’s other diving mooring found on Hastings Reef; visitors will currently spend in excess of 5 hours out there on the ocean.

Typically the Great Barrier Reef is one of a kind in many ways, and 1 is that it is the winter home to the only real known white-colored whale in the whole world.

The particular whale, a huge 20-year-old Humpback whale nicknamed “Migaloo”, which means white-colored man in the native aboriginal language, spends his summer season feasting in Antarctica, after that almost all years migrates northward towards the wintertime calving and mating grounds around the northern Great Barrier Reef.

Migaloo was just spotted off Port Douglas this past week, the very first sighting of the one-of-a-kind whale since his migration southward to Antarctica a year ago.

Simply the spotting of this distinctive whale is definitely big news when it comes to Cairns. The Cairns Story, the local newspaper, happened to run a cover story about the sighting, which include both a front page picture along with an inside flip out poster.

This isn’t just the only location in which this amazing whale has an effect, as observed by the following stories that also featured Migaloo these past few weeks:

In August Migaloo was in fact the main poster dude connected with (blank) a set of protests in opposition to the armed forces training exercise close to Shoalwater Bay, located in the central section of the Great Barrier Reef. These exercises were collectively carried out by the US and Australian military forces. Demonstrators had been anxious how the intense sonar that is now an element of such actions would certainly damage whale populations, not to mention Migaloo. Generally there does appear to be sensible proof connecting ocean mammal fatalities due to this sort of sonar, and considering the dispute it appears strange how the exercises could be organized alongside a noted whale migration route at the same time whilst whales are usually close.

Additionally this season, there seemed to be a controversy as soon as a local man successfully copyrighted the word “migaloo”. While many news stories described the person of the trademark as a man who wanted to use the trademark as a method of raising money in order to save whales, others thought the idea a business oriented attack upon mother nature and also aboriginal traditions.

Miglaoo also has got on to Twitter., that means he’s received star status which challenges Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. We’ve still to check on Facebook itself or Myspace . com for Migaloo’s web page, nevertheless it’s certain assuming he’s got a webpage, he’s got countless great friends!

Some Facts About The Barrier Reef

The Barrier Reef is one of the natural wonders of the world running from the northernmost point of the country to just north of the border. It’s coral reefs stretch over 2000km along the countries coast.

The Barrier Reef is home to well over 900 fish varieties, dolphins, turtles. An impressive amount of birdlife make their home in the area.

The coral which creates the reef itself is also a living creature, made up of 1000′s of tiny creatures. When it dies it turns white, and forms the basis for further reef growth. Different varieties of coral grow at varying speeds, while some are very quick to grow, some species take well over a hundred years to fully grow. The vivid colours are not formed by the coral but by the growth of algae on it.

The barrier reef needs a tropical climate as it relies on warm shallow water to survive. Clean water and lots of light is required to keep the coral healthy.

With 100′s of 1000′s of square miles of reef it is a watersports mecca. Access through day tours are available from the communities all along the coast. Even if you don’t swim you can see the marvels of the reef through reef viewing tours.

The reef is heritage listed and extensive areas are restricted from fishing and removing coral from the reef is prohibited to preserve it for our childrens children.

The colourful and exciting capital of North Queensland, Cairns is alive with exciting activities. Located in the centre of some of the most scenically beautiful and environmentally important areas in the world, Cairns is the natural gateway to the natural riches of rainforest, tablelands, outback, and The Great Barrier Reef. The CBD itself has many attractions – great shopping, theatres, cinemas, museums, botanical gardens, a casino, and fine international dining. Cairns is definately positioned as one of the countries leading visitor destinations, being the departure point for all the best water based adventures. Cairns reef tours are definately the most popular for most tourists, however the area is fast becoming recognised as the extreme sport capital of Queensland.