Great Barrier Reef

One of the seven natural wonders of the earth, the Great Barrier Reef runs for over 1,400 miles along the northeastern coast of Australia.  It is comprised of 2,900 individual reefs.  It is the biggest single structure made of living organisms and can be seen from space.

On Tuesday evening as we were sailing away from Brisbane, we picked up the "reef pilot" who will be on board until we reach Thursday Island, located at the very northern tip the continent, on Sunday.  

Yesterday, Friday, we docked at Cairns--gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.  I don't have any information to share about the city since we booked an 8 hour excursion and didn't go into town.  

We boarded the catamaran shown on the right above for a 1 1/2 hour ride to the stationary pontoon (on the left) on Arlington Reef. Several opportunities were available to us when we arrived--introduction to SCUBA, a ride on a glass-bottomed boat, a 10 minute helicopter ride, or snorkeling. 

 It's the season for jellyfishes, so we were encouraged to don a one-piece lycra suit to protect us from stings and sunburn. The look on my face reflects how I felt after struggling to put on the suit in the 93 degree tempertaure with 80% humidity.

  I finally collected all the equipment and got into the water.  It was such a peaceful experience floating without effort, looking into the water, and being amazed by the diversity of the coral below me.  I saw a few giant clams, several species of colorful fish, blue star-fish, and coral ranging in color from terra cotta to brown to green.  One of the guides explained that the color of the coral is dependent on the algae living in a symbiotic relationship with it.  The algae lives within the coral polyp and provides nutrition to it through photosynthesis.  Of concern is the negative affect of increasing sea temperatures that cause the coral to eject their algae.  The coral can survive for a period of time without the algae, but if the temperature remains too high for too long, the coral will eventually die and the resultant white skeleton is called coral bleaching.  Countries along the world's coral reefs are enacting laws to mitigate the affect of human activities on coral.  On our ship, we have been asked to conserve water and limit the production of gray water while we are cruising through these protected waters.

While I snorkeled, David rode in the glass-bottomed boat and took pictures.  The glass tends to make everything look blue-green, but you can see some of the different structures and a few fish.

It was an exhausting day, mostly due to the heat, but fulfilling knowing that we had seen a small portion of the Great Barrier Reef.  

We sailed from Cairns at 10 pm last night.  Today we have been enjoying a relaxing and air-conditioned day cruising the coral sea.  

We spent most of the day sailing north within sight of the coast.

The maps below show the route we took through the reef.  The blue circle marks our ship at the time.

David spent the afternoon taking pictures as we sailed through the reef.  You can see the reefs as a difference in the color of the water.  

Since we are sailing northwards with a cabin on the port (left when facing forward) side, we get sunsets instead of sunrises.  Tomorrow morning we will anchor off Thursday Island, the northern most tip of Australia.