Our dismay with the behaviour of a few
specimens of humanity was soon cast aside by flat-calm weather and perfect
visibility for much of the next few days. We next visited Russell Island in the
Franklands Group, Sudbury Reef and then Fitzroy Island.
To our delight, we saw not just one but
numerous giant clams: black lips with aqua-marine flecks, purple-blue to aqua
ones, large and half grown ones. To date, even seeing one giant clam has been a
rare treat. Seeing so many was a cause for celebration!
As we hauled ourselves back into the
dinghy after snorkeling, Captain spied fins in the shallows. We quietly paddled
over to investigate and discovered five small black-tipped reef sharks circling who knew what. We watched them, entranced.
Back on the mother-ship, there was a
commotion in the water beside us, not three metres away. We looked over to see
three large and graceful manta rays circling each other in a dance. Their fins were like wings as they rose out of the water, the top
black, the underside pure white. Such exquisite creatures! Enchanted, Matey
eventually reached for her phone for a photo, but too soon they danced away …
Russell Island consists of two islands joined by a sand-bank, almost submerged at high tide. We climbed
the rocks to the top for the sunset view. We explored as much as
we could access on each small island. In a crevasse we observed three giant trevally circling a school of small fish. That night even the whiff of
sea-birds as the breeze changed direction couldn’t dampen our spirits.
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| View at top of Russell Island |
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| Sand cay at Sudbury Reef |
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| Looking towards Cairns from summit of Fitzroy Island |
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| From Fitzroy's summit we saw a whale, and unfortunately, two boats chase after it. |
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| Sudbury Cay is just visible |
Worth reading.
1 comment:
Great photography smates!
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