When I told my friends I’d won a trip on a Coral Sea research expedition with Richard Fitzpatrick, they all said “lucky you”.

But when I told them I’d be swimming with sharks, they weren’t so sure - and I admit I had the occasional doubts as well.

I needn’t have worried. From the moment the Spoilsport set off from Cairns, it was one amazing experience after another.

Just being on the ship was wonderful, seeing a hundred shades of shimmering blue all around me. But once I entered the warm waters of Osprey Reef, I was in a whole new world - a world of shapes, colours and textures like I’d never experienced before. But most excitingly, it was a world crowded with life.

Schools of trevally circled me. Parrot fish and angel fish floated by. Huge cod gave me a glance, then moved on. Shy clown fish even popped out now and then. And then there were the sharks. Lots of them. White tipped reef sharks, grey nurse, and dozens of hammerheads. All - thankfully - just gliding past, taking no interest in me at all.

The other passengers, all avid scuba divers (I stuck to snorkling), had come from all round the world. None were disappointed. Who could be? It was truly a wonder world.

The highlight for everyone was watching Richard Fitzpatrick lassoing sharks and tagging them for research. Between dives, Richard gave talks on his research and his concerns for the future of the reef and the Coral Sea.

The seven days passed like minutes, but the memories will live with me forever. A lifetime of thanks to WWF, Discovery Channel, Richard Fitzpatrick, John Rumney and all the crew for allowing me the privilege of joining them on this never-to-be-forgotten journey.

“The Coral Sea is one of the world’s healthiest marine wilderness areas, where it is still possible to see healthy populations of sharks, turtles, whales, fish and coral - all of which are big draw-card for tourists,” said Lydia Gibson, WWF’s Marine Policy Manager.

Declaring the area a conservation zone is an important step towards creating a marine protected area.

Read more about the Coral Sea being declared a conservation zone here

WWF now has a screensaver that demonstrates a powerful message that we can all help stop global warming and the effects can be seen in some of the most beautiful places in the world.

Be sure to download the screensaver here - wwf.org.au/act/takeaction/screensaver.

Here is what Neil and Darren had to say on why the created the screensaver:

For years, screensavers have been telling us it’s safe to leave computers, monitors and projectors on when not in use. Earth Hour told us it isn’t.

So, we set about using our skills as a creative team in advertising to develop a reminder for people to keep up the good work all year round.

Working with the team from WWF we developed a fully functioning screensaver that adds a poignant twist to the classic aquarium saver.

We employed the services of some of the top names in the industry - Peter Shannon (Illustrator) and Bazar Studios to help us put it all together. And as ever, they exceeded our wildest expectations. Thanks, guys. You’re awesome.

What makes this idea so strong is that it puts the solution to global warming at the heart of the problem. Better still, our message will appear each and every time users forget to turn off their machine, but not if they don’t – making it the ultimate in targeted marketing.

A free copy of the screensaver is available at wwf.org.au/act/takeaction/screensaver. Please download a copy and encourage all your family, friends and colleagues to do the same.

Ideally we’d like to get one on every computer in Australia, better still the world. If we could, it would be like having an Earth Hour everyday. And that has to be a good thing for a living planet.

Neil and Darren
Clemenger Proximity Sydney

An expedition to the crystal clear waters of the Coral Sea in 2006 found a new breeding bird for Australia (see http://www.ecology-solutions.com.au/trip_reports.html). The New Caledonian Fairy Tern is a little known and threatened bird which breeds on remote Pacific islands. In Australia, we usually associate Fairy Terns with a different form which nests on southern coast beaches.

Formerly, New Caledonian Fairy Terns were recorded in Australia only from measurements of carcasses blown into Queensland shores following cyclones. In 2006, with the help of ornithological expert Mike Carter, birds with newly fledged young were identified on East Diamond Islet, near Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve. The find was published in the journal Australian Field Ornithology in 2007.

Lihou Reef is one of Australia’s largest nature reserves, covering an area of 8,440 km2: that’s about three times the size of the Australian Capital Territory. The last bird expedition, 25 years ago, reported Little Terns breeding on its sandy islands. Little Terns are similar to Fairy Terns but normally found inshore. So much so, reports in the 1960s caused CSIRO scientists to say that “the nesting of the species some 400 miles east of the Queensland coast could be exceptional”. Little Terns were reported as early as 1922 on Willis Island, elsewhere in the Coral Sea. It was just by chance that this long-standing myth was laid to rest in 2006, with the discovery of Fairy Terns, not Little Terns, in an unprotected part of the Coral Sea just a few tens of miles outside Lihou Reef.

New Caledonian Fairy Terns are descended from the extremely rare New Zealand Fairy Tern and all three forms are genetically distinct and completely isolated. The New Caledonian Ornithological Society believes “drastic conservation measures are needed for the New Caledonian Fairy Tern”. Commenting on the discovery of birds at Lihou Reef, Nicolas Barré, said ” it would be great if a subpopulation can establish somewhere out of the “official” range.

Fairy Tern may be one of the most significant species in the Coral Sea but because of threats to it in New Caledonia, it is also an important flagship species for the Western Pacific. It may once have occurred throughout the Coral Sea. Perhaps it still does? If this internationally important discovery can be made in just a short trip, what else could there be to find?

A second expedition is planned for December 2009, with specific focus on gathering more information on this new bird for Australia. For more information or to support the expedition, contact Simon Mustoe (simonmustoe@ecology-solutions.com.au / +61405 220830).

Fairy Tern - BirdLife Species Factsheet: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3281&m=0

Carter, M. & Mustoe, S. (2007) Another Form of Fairy Tern Sterna nereis Breeding in Australian Territory. Australian Field Ornithology, 24, 167-79.

Spaggiari, J., Barre, N., Franceschi-Baudat, J. & Borsa, P. (2007). New Caledonian Seabirds. In Compendium of Marine Species of New Caledonia (eds C.E. Payri & B. Forges), pp. 415-28. IRD, Nouméa. <http://www.ird.nc/biodec/downloads/Compendium/Version%20v%E9rrouill%E9e/Spaggiari-Barre-Baudat-Bor-v.pdf>

It’s the final day and we hit 30+ knot winds - as we depart the sheltered waters of Lizard Island the boat starts rocking violently; bags, papers, and camera start to move from one side of the boat to the other as does all the food in the kitchen – nightmare! There was no option but to turn back to towards shelter. Instead we had to opt for a snorkel around the mangrove forest off Lizard Island, one of the highlights is coming across a Narrow-lined pufferfish – these rather friendly and harmless little guys can reach up to 30 cm in length and are typically collected as part of the aquarium trade.

Swimming along the fringes of the mangrove it was clear how important these ecosystems are as an important nursery and ground and protected habitat for a wide range of fish, crustaceans, birds and mammals. Acting like a sieve, the mangrove’s role of filtering pollutants, stabilizing and improving the soil and protecting the shorelines form erosion is remarkable. Once again I am reminded how the ocean is one large ecosystem, from land to reef and reef to open ocean it is all interconnected at one level.

As we head back from the mangrove back to the vessel the wind is howling, the cold is piercing and the little White Knight is rapidly filling up with water – we all look like drowned rats as we board the Phoenix.

One of the great things about being out in nature is experiencing and embracing all it its elements, you really know you are alive.

1.30pm and now it’s time to pack! My heart sinks to know that I am leaving this marine wilderness, thousands of miles away from hustle and bustle of Sydney and disconnected for the first time in a long time from mobile phones and the internet.

The one thing I am really excited about is being able to getting back to share my experience with everyone I could.

What I had just experienced was a once in a life time opportunity - it reignited that burning desire deep inside of my belly to do all that I can to help safeguard this remarkable environment.

Thinking back on the Minke whale experiences I had had, I recalled what beautiful magnificent creatures there were and what a fantastic job the researchers from James Cook University were doing in collaboration with the Tourism industry to learn more about them. With the scientist itching in me I still was eager to find out more about where exactly the Whales go in the Coral Sea, where they calve, where exactly they feed … and so the list goes on.

Unfortunately, whales globally face threats from overfishing, byctach, shipstrikes, pollution both chemical and noise pollution, seismic surveying activities and of course direct kills from whaling. While the Coral Sea remains unprotected, the Dwarf Minke whales are susceptible to a number of these threats.

We need to do what we can to support the ongoing research and provide safe havens for the animals. Protection of the Coral Sea is one significant and indeed necessary step towards achieving this goal.

Going Home with a Mission

We fly out from Lizard Island back to Cairns, the views of the Barrier Reef are outstanding – as if I needed anymore convincing with as I looked down upon the vast ocean I thought of marine protection in a global context.

It is simply a no-brainer - the ocean was the cradle of life and it continues to sustain life and provide oxygen and other vital resources to the earth.

However, only 0.1 percent is protected compared with 11 percent of land. It is about time we changed this statistic - a Coral Sea Marine Park would set the new record for the largest Marine Protected Area in the world. We have an amazing opportunity to protect this last great tropical underwater wilderness. Let’s do it now.

Hoorah for another day out at sea! We are back at the infamous Light House bommie, however, once again we lack some whale action. We are certainly compensated with surprise sighting of other fascinating marine life. While scouting out for the whale, Dean spots a Hammerhead shark speedily skimming the ocean’s surface.

The hammerheads are a personal favourite of mine, and it was an honour to see one in its natural environment.

I love the way they look, they have such character with their T-shaped heads and signature side to side movement through the water. I remember studying shark biology as part of my marine biology university course. Shark reproduction is fascinating; the eggs (from 15 to 31) actually hatch inside the body and after hatching yet before birth the individual are nourished by a yolk sac placenta – amazing isn’t it!

Although we could not identify the exact kind of Hammerhead species, we could presume it was a scalloped Hammerhead, the most common in the Great Barrier Reef. The female Scalloped Hammerhead like to shelter in the estuarine environments of the Queensland coast to give birth. The offshore underwater mountains in the Coral Sea serve as social grounds supporting large schools of up to 60 individuals.

Unfortunately, what we do know is that all species of shark are disappearing fast from oceans around the world. Now the IUCN Shark Specialist Group are proposing the Scalloped Hammerhead should be stated as Globally Endangered on the 2008 IUCN Red List this year. Many of the threats it faces are from overfishing commercially and as game-fish as well as from by-catch on longline fisheries.

Another disturbing trend emerging is the high demand for shark fin that it now appears more high sea fisheries could be targeting great sharks more and more. Australians can play a role in preventing a disaster by protecting the hammerhead from shark fishing in their maternity wards on the Queensland Coast through to their playgrounds in the Coral Sea.

Another Coral Sea critter we spy in the Great Barrier Reef is the Olive Sea Snake, one of the most common of the sea snakes found on the Coral Reefs of Australia and one on the most venomous. As the snake comes closer to the boat, Richard Fitzpatrick bravely reaches for the snake and picks it up out of the water. It is so cool to see its paddle like tail and olive scales, its movements on the boat are certainly erratic compared to in the water.

It is clear that this particular snake had just had a big feast, her belly is largely distended and her breath is particularly smelly.

Olive snakes typically feed on fish, crabs and fish eggs. After a few photographs and an educational talk from Richard we carefully place her back in the water and watch her go on her merry way.

Almost about to give up on the whale front, at 3pm a whale is spotted. It’s all hands to deck and what is to unfold is another whale frenzy again starting with only a few individuals that quickly multiply to 20+. This time Dean manages to get some good underwater footage of the whales and their encounters with the snorkellers. The whales stay with us until sunset! A perfect ending to a perfect day.

That evening there was a particular air of contentment among my cast and crew, having filled out all the data sheets, compared photographs, and with good food in our bellies we head to Lizard Island to feel the stability of land under our feet.

This morning I am itching to be back in the water with the whales, and it appears I am not alone – almost everyone is awake and raring to see the whales. By 8.00am we are all positioned on the top deck scanning the vast blue ocean from left to right on the look out for the minke whale.

By 8.25, Mark, the doctor, spots another whale (by this time Mark is certainly winning on the whale spotting front – with his eagle eye he seems to spot the faintest of blows - the competition is on!).

Once again, I was the first to jump in the water and literally straight away we had three whales approach from all angles. Before we had got into the water, we were instructed by John to try and sing to whales. When I used to work as a Dolphin Swimming Guide in New Zealand we used to instruct the tourists to do the same, if was often hard to say whether this attracted or even deter the marine mammals but one thing is for sure it certainly provided entertainment to those onboard!

I loved singing to the whales, although an avid conservationist I also have secret wannabe pop star in me – we all do right??

Anyway, I started to sing a song that my Nan used to sing and low and behold a whale came closer and closer to me – the more time you spent in the water, the more you can get a sense of those whales are going to make a close approach and those that are going to stay back. This encounter was another special one, this time it comes to the surface we are literally eye to eye. I am moved to tears – words can not do justice what I experienced.

The next few hours was action packed with whale activity, I started taking photographs and making a mental note of all the behaviours I was witnessing. At one point I was slightly distracted by the sight of small shark directly below me, the visibility was not great and it was near to impossible to positively identify it – it was fascinating watching it move through the water among a sea of whales.

Memories of my encounter with a Great White Shark in South Africa came flooding back. Sharks – they are such awe inspiring creatures!

Towards the end of the swim and when the whales were in large numbers we started to hear a strange noise, comprised of three short pulses followed by an upsweep.

You could literally feel this sound vibrate straight through your body – it was the whales, they were singing!

Typically the sounds the whales produce are low frequency grunts, moans and belches – this sound however was extra-ordinary, dubbed by the scientists as the ‘Star Wars’ sound it was like nothing I have experienced before, who knows what they were saying!

To hear a sample of the sound go to http://www.minkewhale.org/minke_whale_sounds.htm

At lunch time we all started comparing estimates of how many whales we had seen and exchanging encounters… “Did you see that one with the white patch - he was particularly friendly! How about that one with it fin totally cut off - what do you think?

Today the water clarity was not fantastic and while it was still great for individual whale encounters it wasn’t great for filming. Richard and Dean decided to spend the day retrieving data loggers, positioned around a number of the reefs in the Great Barrier Reef and are out the Coral Sea. These data loggers are essentially picking up signals from a number of radio-tagged sharks. The data will provide information on the movement and behaviours of sharks in the Great Barrier Reef and help conservation efforts to protect them.

For example, if we are looking to protect the sharks in the Coral Sea then understanding the movements of these sharks is imperative. We need to secure large areas of high protection to accommodate migratory pathways for these amazing and important creatures.

Come the end of this amazing day, we pick up Richard and Dean from their Data Logger retrieving trip.

Richard reports a near death experience trying just to retrieve the data logger with just three breaths of air left the data logger got stuck and it was a touch and go situation – oh the joys of marine research!

Before the light fades we manage to squeeze in another little snorkel at Cods Hole where we came face to face with a Potato Cod. These big guys are one of the largest members of the grouper family and are named after the potato shaped markings on its body.

These very inquisitive fellas have a huge head and mouth which means they can engulf small rays, crabs, fish and spiny lobsters, all in one go.

Unfortunately the potato cod is an endangered native Australian fish and while it is mostly safe in the Barrier Reef, its habitat in the Coral Sea remains largely unprotected.

Some of the work WWF has been supporting as part of our Coral Sea Campaign is understanding the movements and behaviours of the Potato Cod at Osprey Reef.

As we head to spend a night in the calm waters of Lizard Island and as the sun sets on the open ocean we see a dwarf minke whale jump clean of the water in the distance – a wonderful goodbye and goodnight message after a fantastic day out on the open ocean.

Day 3 - Ancient Green Mariners and Missing Minkes

Given that we had such an amazing encounter with the Minke whales, we anchored at night in the shelter of Challenger bay. Challenger Bay is located at the southern tip of Ribbon Reef #10. The site is composed of a back reef slope with an outstanding diversity of corals and a sandy slope with patches of corals, which drops to approximately 35m. This bay is well renowned dive site given its stunning coral gardens and abundant fish life.

At 7.30am, John Rumney took us out on The White Knight a small little rib used predominately for shark research, for a morning snorkel. As we immersed ourselves in the water we were unexpectedly greeted by a school of thirty Bumphead parrot fish. It is the largest of the parrot fish family and can grow wup to 1.3 metres in length and can live up to 40 years.

Unfortunately, these fish are in decline around the world- threatened by overexploitation and habitat degradation. They really are a quite a sight to behold with their large bulbous forehead and prominent teeth plates. Within their group, they slowly meander along, seemingly unperturbed by our presence. We are certainly lucky to come across such a group, and I can’t help but be reminded just how critical it is to establish the Coral Sea as a Marine Protected Area. The Coral Sea is a very important habitat for the intriguing Bumphead Parrot fish.

Once the snorkel is over and we had some breakfast inside our bellies we move back to the Lighthouse bommie to seek the minke whales again.

This time the trip is less fruitful; we have two whales pass but they just didn’t seem interested. Just a little reminder that nature is certainly not on tap - those rare close encounters you can never take for granted, you can certainly never request a replay.

Richard and Dean aren’t going to get the footage they want today; just one of the downsides of filming nature. Often you can spend many long hours waiting for that magical shot that in reality may only be a few seconds on film. Although, as in Richard’s own words, ‘when you get it - it is worth the wait’.

There is nothing like coming up close and personal with a Green Turtle. Along with the whale encounter, I have literally feel like I have waited all my life for this moment.

Since working on WWF’s Coral Sea campaign, I have not only learnt how important the Coral Sea is as a critical habitat for Green turtles, but just how endangered these gorgeous animals are and its tragic.

Globally populations have been estimated to have declined up to 61 per cent over the last three generations, based on a number of factors from overexploitation of their eggs and nesting adult females to incidental mortality in fisheries and habitat degradation.

And here I am, within an arm’s reach of an animal that had such character, happily going along on its way and living in harmony with its environment - you just can’t beat that kind of experience. There is no question in my mind, protecting the marine environment for future generations is essential and we must do it now before it’s too late.

With little whale activity we moved to the Pixie’s Pinnacle for another snorkel. Pixie’s pinnacle is a like huge cone shape pyramid that is coated with myriad corals both soft and hard, gorgonians, sea whips and sponges.

Snorkelling around this pinnacle was like sensory overload; like an underwater Grand Central Station, it was one hive of activity from schooling zebra fish, anemones with their clown fish popping in and out cleaner wrasse while underneath the overhangs and caves lay shrimps, lionfish and moray eels.

John gave us the low down on the biology and behaviour of the minke whales based on the research accrued over the years as part of the Minke Whale Project. The presentation was accompanied with an informative DVD and once again I was struck by how little we really know about these majestic animals and my mind got ticking – what can we do to help further the research? We have to know more about what we need to do protect to their environment, and how best can we work to bring the underwater world into the hearts and mind of every individual.

(If you missed it, start from part 1)

Day 2 - Dancing Minkes and Tall Tales of The Sea

Waking up was slightly surreal, the engine was roaring, the boat was rocking – I couldn’t believe it we had been travelling all night – we were now 9 hours away from the mainland. We had arrived at a place called Light House – years of data collection from tourism boats and scientific research has shown that this is the hotspot for Minke whale activity. Expectations were running high – we were all to look out for a fin slicing the surface of the water or that signature blow as the whale exhales a lung full of air into the atmosphere.

11.00am and the doctor shouts Minke! The rope is deployed, I am literally bursting at the seams to jump into the water.

That’s it, I’m in, I move to the end of the rope and then out of the corner of my eye I see it – a minke whale! My heart skips a beat! This is something I have dreamed about since I was a little girl.

And it’s coming closer, I stop still in sheer amazement, this whale is about 6 metres long with at least 6 cookie cutter marks on its back - a sign that these whales are regular visitors of the Coral Sea.

It’s is not long before the whales seem to have called in their comrades to look at the strange spectacle of six humans hanging on a rope. At one point there is up to 10 whales coming at us from every which way – it utterly amazing. After each pass their confidence appears to build and the closer, more magical the encounters are.

I try my best to photograph their left and right flanks for photo-identification and to keep still so others can do the same.

My fingers are shriveled liked prunes from being in the water so long when I start to feel the pinch of the cold – just as I think about heading back in one of the most memorable encounters begins.

In the corner of my eye I see a large whale is powering along, moving using its tail to push its self through the water column and it’s making a bee line right for me! The whale approaches is a metre away - I look up to John Rumney who’s watching from the back of the boat. It’s like in a pantomime, he’s shouting,“it’s behind you!”. “I know,” I shout back, she is quite hard to miss.

Soon she is right beside me, presenting that wonderfully bright white underbelly and spinning on her tail – pirouetting like a ballerina – the trade mark of the one and only balletic Dwarf Minke Whale – Pavlova

To be honest I am so astounded, blown away that the thought of taking a photograph or filming the spectacle is the last thing on my mind, instead it will be forever engraved in my memory. After her little spin, Pavlova (still to be confirmed) exhibits a behaviour termed by Minke Whale biologists as motorboating. A rare behaviour where the ‘whale near horizontal, breaks the water surface and its snout and the upper part of its head is maintained just above the water surface while slowly moving forward.’ She then moves off, but as if unsatisfied with the last encounter she comes back again for another closer look – another belly presentation, another little motor around and off she goes.

I hear cheers from the back of the boat as those that have got out of the water earlier shout with amazement. Richard Fitzpatrick, captures the encounter on camera from aboard the vessel, my heart is pounding and I’m quite dumbfounded about what has just happened. You just can’t help but wonder what’s going on in a whale’s mind when it acts like that, how do they perceive you and what, if anything, was it trying to communicate?

Once again I am reminded just how little we know about the marine environment and its inhabitants, an underwater world of mysteries yet to be solved. Our scientific understanding is certainly growing and technologies to study it are advancing fast, but perhaps not fast enough to fully grasp the extent of how much we are impacting it.

Come evening time we are all exhausted from the days activities, we fill out the data sightings sheet, record all the whale behaviours we had seen and start to revel in each other’s stories and experiences from the marine realm. As always Richard Fitzpatrick keeps us gripped with all the stories of near death experiences he has had as well as fascinating facts about marine life that only someone that lives and breathes the ocean life can experience.

He told us about some of his unique shark encounters and gives us a sneak preview of some of the footage on sharks that he has put together for a new documentary soon to be aired in Australia in October.

9.00pm and I am out for the count – until another day.

Continue on to part 5

Day 1 – Dreams Come True

5.00pm – After an all day trip from Sydney to Cairns, and Cairns to Port Douglas – I finally boarded what was to be my home for the next six days – a gorgeous little boat called the Phoenix.

The boat crew were warm and welcoming, including Pete the skipper, Michelle the dive instructor with more qualifications than you could count and Charlie the chef. Soon enough the guests started to arrive, among them was Richard Fitzpatrick – an Emmy nominated filmmaker and world renowned shark scientist along with his sidekick - Dr Dean Miller. Dean, also a marine scientist, has worked with Richard on a number projects, on this trip he was here to film the underwater world of the Minke whale. Then there was of course the wonderful John Rumney - a well-loved raconteur and champion for the environment.

Eagerly anticipating the trip ahead, I sat down to listen to John brief us about the Minke Whales – what to expect and how to follow the Code of Conduct, a key procedure we have to follow to minimize any impact we may have and to ensure a safe encounter with the whales.

Most of the evening I just could not imagine what to expect, I felt like I was going to burst, I was so close to living a lifelong dream.

What was it really going to be like to be that close to such a large mammal and to stare into the eye of animal whose ancestors have been on this earth for millions of years?

Later that evening, in the cool evening breeze, I sat up on the top deck, working with John and Dean to create a rope with a series of tyre inner tubes attached to it. This rope was a requirement of the Code of Conduct, to be deployed from the back of the boat during our swim with the whales and to hold us steady as we took photos of the whales for scientific identification. As we made the ropes, I heard about the fantastic work Dean had done as part of his PHD looking at the tourism value of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea as a dive destination. There is no mistaking that Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea is one magical place and an extraordinary out-of-this-world dive destination.

Continue on to part 4