Where has all the wildlife gone?

Crocodiles, sharks, dolphins, crabs, mud-skippers and birds of all varieties. The Hunter River, where we were anchored, abounds in them and so much more. The morning started off really well with the rising sun shining brightly on a monolithic rock of sandstone and basalt nearby. We were to go on two zodiac tours during the day, The first, of 1.5 hours’ duration was around Porosus Creek, named after its major wildlife species, the dreaded crocodilus porosis australis which supposedly abounds in the area. Our ship would then move a short distance and we would then embark on a one hour zodiac expedition to circumnavigate the nearby Naturalist Island.
The large number of bottle-nosed and snub-nosed dolphins visible around the boat as we were waiting to board our zodiacs got us all excited and seemed to augur well for the profusion of wildlife which we could expect to encounter on our morning excursion. It wasn’t to be. Cruising all along the mangrove-covered shoreline of Porosus Creek and up and down several of its narrow tributaries the best we could manage was the sight of a small croc sunning itself half out of the water on a mudbank. From a distance we could also see the fascinating mud-skippers jumping about while there were the occasional birds flying overhead, but that was pretty much it.
Despite this, we weren’t too disappointed. It was still a very pleasant trip, the scenery was outstanding and there was a great deal to see, even if most of it was inanimate.
The afternoon expedition was similarly anticlimactic with most of the wildlife having gone into hiding.. Those characteristic reddish-brown sculptured cliffs are fascinating and we got to learn a lot about the different species of mangrove which abound in the area and the various techniques which these plants use to survive in salty water. Our time definitely wasn’t wasted.
On board as usual there was plenty going on, not to mention the unlimited quantities and varieties of tempting food and drink which was always beckoning. .Brian attended a lecture, “How to survive a crocodile attack; understanding an ancient predator.” The bottom line; you don’t stand a chance. The lecture in fact was very interesting and covered far more about the dreaded crocodile than the title suggested.
Intriguingly, in the afternoon there was a scheduled showing of a 52-minute documentary entitled “The Maori Heritage” which didn’t really seem to relate to the theme of our expedition. A mixture of curiosity and patriotism persuaded the two of us to attend. We were literally the only ones in the entire theatre. It was a French production and pretty much in line with the title. However we found it to be rather trite and predictable and gave up partway through.
During the day there was a so-called shark workshop which Brian also attended. It was really an informal talk and was certainly more appealing than the aforementioned film.
The evening’s highlight was a beautiful sunset enjoyed by everyone while attending the captain’s cocktails on the boat deck.Lue lisää