Sunday, October 4, 2020

Cairns and Great Barrier Reef

The ultimate Great Barrier Reef experience: looking a sea turtle in the eye:

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The shells in this picture are the Giant Clams. The are the largest mollusks on Earth that can grow to more than a yard across. The ones you see here have been exposed by the low tide, but most of them live their 100-year lives fully underwater.
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This is a small crown-of-thorns starfish. Its spikes are venomous, and it can grow to more than a foot in diameter. In large numbers, they are dangerous to the reef: they actually eat coral, faster than it can reproduce. 
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At the Cairns airport:
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Cairns beach:
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And warnings about the Cairns wildlife:
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A few more marsupials around Cairns and Port Douglas:
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Night visitor to our house:
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Fruit bats, also known as flying foxes:
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Parting shot - just a picture of the reef blue:
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