Around Straya
We pulled into Coral Bay and only just managed to find a place to stay in the Caravan Park. It was full of people! We had two days of bright and beautiful sunshine before it was going to have some rainy and windy weather, so we made the most of it!
Glass Bottom Boat
First on the list was a glass bottom boat ride to see the coral. However on that very informative boat tour we learned that all the coral is actually dead. Apparently some 18 months ago the coral spawned. Coral spawn once a year apparently and all on the same day. They spawn and the currents take the baby coral out to the ocean and they find a spot to settle and grow on. On this particular day the coral all spawned, however at the same time there was a very warm wind that was blowing toward the bay. This prevented the coral from going out into the ocean and kept them in the bay where they used up all the oxygen in the water for their growth needs. As a consequence all the fish in the bay died and all the coral bleached and ended up dying as well. The sharks of the area helped with the clean up of all the dead fish, some of which had washed up onto the shore.
It was a great catastrophe and we saw the evidence of it on the boat. Some of the fish had started to come back and congregate around the coral but they were much reduced from the last population.
We saw the biggest coral in the bay which was 1,000 years old. It was as big as a water tank. It was also bleached white from the catastrophe that had happened, however the scientists in the area were waiting and hoping that somehow it was not dead for good and that it would recover.
We also learned about the different types of coral. There were plating coral, boulder coral, staghorn coral and brain coral.
We also learned that the parrot fish are actually all born female and the dominant ones turn male later on. The fish also change colour slightly depending on their mood. When we were feeding them we saw the change of colour as they were racing to get their morsel of food.
Beach
The rest of the time was spent playing and swimming in the bay. Swimming with the whale sharks was off the list due to the price and none of the kids felt confident enough to try out something like that.
Concert
The Caravan Park had an Australian singer coming to do a little concert. We spent some time listening to his songs about Australia. He ended with a song about the Irish Blessing to have a prayer for us all as we continued on our journeys.
