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  • Day 55

    Seafari - Coral Bay

    May 28, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Spnt a whole day on a 'seafari', looking for the various marine wildlife found off the Coral Bay coast, in particular the large Manta Rays that can be found here. Hopefully a chance to use our new tough camera we had to buy after dust broke the old one.
    The first round of snorkelling took us to a deep part of the reef where there was a small canyon to dive down into and find marine life hiding away. Straight away we found two Green Turtles who weren't bothered we were there and allowed us to follow them. Just after we watched as three reef sharks chased a shoal of fish into a huge bait ball and took turns to catch a few. Aside from this the fish and coral (hard coral which makes spectacular shapes rather than soft coral which is more colourful) were amazing.
    As we got back on the boat the spotter plane was circling above trying to locate Manta Rays for us to swim with. It took a while but they found a 3 metre long juvenile and we were able to swim on the surface above it. It was ok with us being there and did a barrel roll in front of us to show off. We swam with it for nearly an hour, by which time 8 people has returned to the boat leaving 3 of us with the Ray. At this point the guide allowed us to dive down and swim alongside this graceful creature that appears to fly through the water.
    On the way to the second reef dive of the day we spotted two humpback whales and followed them for a while before they dove down to feed. Not long after this and just before we got in the water, a 3.5 metre Tiger Shark swam past which did concern us a wee bit. However the guide explained their dietary habits and got in the water to take some photos!
    The second snorkel was around coral stacks where you could dive down and swim through canyons and gullies with the shoals of colourful fish.
    An amazing day with two very tired travellers by the end of the day!
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