Tuesday 15th December

Michaelmas cay, snorkel & sail

Up early again & we’re not getting paid to do this! It’s crazy!!
Sailing to the Great Barrier Reef today on ocean spirit II. We will be visiting Michaelmas cay a small sand ‘island’ with little vegetation & 20,000 nesting Terns! We will snorkel on the reef & Janet will complete her first official public snorkel!!

Janet successfully snorkels, the anxious crowd go crazy as she walks from the sea like a bond girl covered in seaweed & crustaceans. Yes thats another one of Janets nicknames for me!! We see lots of different corals & sea life. The coral is in very good condition & the snorkelling was great fun. We even got to see a small Ray, green turtles, huge clams & a white tipped shark. These are apparently completely harmless but the shark did freak me out a little!

The onboard marine expert gave us a talk & it is very sad. They are committed & recognise that they will have to accept a rise in sea levels due to climate change. A rise in sea levels will result in more extreme tides. This will both expose the coral to the sun for longer on low tides & shade it from the sun for longer on high tides. The coral has only a narrow band of sun exposure ie. Depth in water & temperature range that it can exist in. Some suggest that the Great Barrier Reef will be all gone in 50 years! That said, over 1.5 million people visit the Great Barrier Reef every year. There is a contradiction there that i struggle to justify.

Love & salty hugs,
Jeff & Janet