Eye to Eye Encounter Pt. 7

Day 5 - Happy hammerheads and smelly sea snakes

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.