Eye to Eye Encounter Pt. 8

Day 6 – Mangroves and Mad Weather

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.