As The Spirit of Freedom continued our dives, we ended up seeing some pretty interesting critters, and fabulous activity as well. I had never seen an Olive Sea Snake before…but I have now! I have seen the Banded Sea Snake who is very shy, and very toxic. The Olive Greens were quite curious, and followed us all over the reef!
I hope you all had a lovely Labor Day Weekend readers in the U S of A!
Today, I continue my journey on the Spirit of Freedom on the Great Barrier Reef! Our dive spots were the Ribbon Reefs at the far northern edge of the Great Barrier Reef, stretching for 50 miles along the continental shelf! These are famous dive sites for any level diver. The best time to dive this area is during the dry season, May to November. October through May is known as “the wet”. Water temps were around 78 degrees Farenheit, very comfortable yet still refreshing. During June/July you may see Dwarf Minke Whales! But that is for another post! For now, enjoy these awesome creatures from the Ribbon Reefs.
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And
After a couple of days resting at the Shangri-La in Cairns, I was ready for another dive adventure. I booked myself on the Spirit of Freedom, a 124 foot live aboard dive vessel. After the Arenui, I was ready for a let down, but in truth, I enjoyed the Spirit of Freedom very much. The Spirit of Freedom is the only dive liveaboard on the Great Barrier Reef where every cabin has its own bathroom! We each had our own little “cubby” for our dive equipment, and ample room for cameras and gear. Not luxurious, but it was a great boat. The crew of the Spirit of Freedom were awesome, especially the Cruise Director, Ren! Unlike the Arenui in Indonesia, the divers on the Spirit of Freedom had the choice of whether or not to go with a Dive Master. Each buddy group could go on their own if they so desired. As a solo diver, I went with the Dive Master, and so had a small dive group of four, which I like best anyway…unless I am in a spot well known to me. Dive Masters know where all the cool animals and creatures are, so I usually prefer to head off with them.
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All of these photos are from my very first dive on the Great Barrier Reef! Til next post!
A
Welcome to Fab Photos Friday! I doubt these photos do my trip justice. My last few days in Komodo were absolutely blissful! The beauty of Komodo National Park continues to amaze me. I confess that I love looking at the photos from every dive site and every moment of my Ray of Hope Expedition on The Arenui. The islands were also beautiful, and I took far too many photographs of them! I mean, how many times can you look at lush green islands and blue water?
Day 5 of our Ray of Hope Expedition on The Arenui in Komodo National Park, Indonesia and it brought colorful Pink Beach beauties, and the best night dive ever!
The day started out sunny and beautiful, and the first two dives were spent searching for mantas, as I published last Friday at http://tamtravels.wpengine.com/fab-photo-friday-reef-mantas/. In the afternoon we did a dive at Pink Beach. Pink Beach got its name from its mixture of white and red sand. The red sand came about because of red fossilized Foraminifera…just think to yourself, oh, pretty red shells/shellfish created the color of the sand. It’s easier than learning about Foraminifera!
Sunset at Loh Liang Bay
The evening rolled around at Loh Liang Bay, and no one in my dive group had the energy to do it. I had missed a night dive and had no intention of missing another, so off I went with my own dive guide! I am so glad I did not miss it…it was the best night dive I’d ever had! What made it so fabulous? The animals, of course!
It is Fab Photo Friday! On Day 4, the Ray of Hope Expedition caught up with Mantas! ROHE’s main goal is always to identify as many manta rays as possible, and records were broken on this trip! Takat Makkasar is a known Manta hangout, so day 4 was mostly spent on this reef. When we were not diving it, we snorkeled it. There were Reef Mantas everywhere. As a matter of interest, only Reef Mantas, or Manta Alfredi, live in Komodo. These mantas are a little smaller than the Giant Manta, or Manta Biostris, and instead of traveling the oceans, Reef Mantas tend to stay within a certain “home” area. Reef Mantas can grow to be 12 feet in wing span, while the Giants can be over 20 feet in wing span. This was my very first time to see Reef Mantas, and I love them every bit as much as the Giants I have seen all over the world.
It is so interesting to watch mantas being cleaned. Many pelagics require cleaning (as do many fish) in order to clean wounds, and remove parasites. Butterfly fish are avid cleaners, and in some areas, Angel Fish join in. The butterflies nibble parasites, wounds, and other detritus from the ray.
The number of Manta IDs was incredible! Komodo National Park yielded 80 individual identifications on one day, a record breaker! Andrea was thrilled with the productivity of the trip…and we had a wonderful time along the way. What could be better than citizen science and fun?
