Australia
Marsupials
Check out this AWESOME powerpoint I made about marsupials. They are such fascinating creatures and I loved seeing them in the wild as well as visiting them in wild life sanctuaries in Australia while I lived there.
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Australia History and all about Marsupials Powerpoint
CLICK BELOW:
Australia History and all about Marsupials Powerpoint
Great Barrier Reef
I signed up for 3 tank dives at Flynn Reef on the Great Barrier Reef. I have an under water camera that should go only about 3 m (~10 ft) so I decided I wouldn’t take it on the deepest dive but may try it out on our more shallow dives. Our first dive was at the Coral Gardens: maximum depth: 20m; length of dive: 45 minutes. We saw Clown Trigger fish, a White Tip Reef Shark, flat worms, Giant clams, a Maori Wrasse, and a Feather Star.
Nigel, the large blue fish below, was a Maori Wrasse, a big blue fish that came right up to me. I could pet his soft, smooth scales. Maori Wrasse, also known as Humphead Wrasse, are mainly found in coral reefs in Indo Pacific regions. The males can grow to be about 2 meters (6 feet). They are the largest living member of their family.
I also loved the flat worms. They glide through the water like stingrays, moving with elegance. They are decorated with bright primary colors in shapes and patterns that outline their body.
Then we came back aboard and layed out on the front part of the boat while we were brought to the next dive site: Gordon’s Reef. Our maximum depth was 12 meters, so I decided to take my camera down, and just see if it worked. Sure enough it did! I saw two Hawk Bill Turtles, a Green Turtle, Boxer shrimp, Ghost shrimp and Baracuda. I would have never spotted the ghost shrimp but our Dive Master, Sean, pointed them out to me. They are tiny, transparent, and usually hang out in sea anenome.
The last dive was at Tracy’s Reef. We went down about 12 meters for 45 minutes. This was my favorite dive because Sean made it interactive. He picked up a Pineapple Sea Cucumber and just plopped it in my hands. Since I was still a new diver at the time, I didn't know that you really shouldn't pick up anything on a dive. However, since my dive master was handing me animals under the sea, I did. (And it was pretty cool, I must say!) On their underside, Pineapple Sea Cucumbers have hundreds of feet, or suction cup appendages used for movement and food collection and consumption, similar to a starfish. They latched onto my hand- it felt so funny!
The Leopard Sea Cucumber: When threatened, this specific type of sea cucumber ejects its intestines hoping the predator will attack the gut and not the cucumber. The Sea Cucumber can regenerate its gut after the event. Sean showed us this, and touched the white intestines and then pulled, unable to remove it. It was as strong as a rope. Well, I thought I'd try the same, so I touched it and sure enough, couldn't get it off. I had a moment of panic 20 m (60 ft) below, but managed to get some of it off. It wasn't until I surfaced that it all came off. What an effective protective mechanism.
The different levels of coral formed a city of natural skyscrapers under the sea. We swam in caves and under archways made by coral. Tiny neon-blue fish socialized by their local hangout, the Hard Coral Hotel. When I touched the sea anemone, a soft coral, the clown fish played tag with my fingers. Small black and white striped fish huddled together in schools for safety. When you come up the school of fish whould swim into the coral and hide. Other soft coral that looked like a small flower made of fans in the shape of a pyramid would suck in when you swam by. It was fun to swish the water towards them and watch them contract into the hard coral for cover.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to scuba dive in the Bahamas, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Cozumel, Panama, Honduras, Cancun and now the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. WOW- the Great Barrier Reef is INCREDIBLE!
Each dive is different. One was a wreck dive. I loved swimming through the old rusted doors and looking onto an old ship that is now a home to so many creatures under the sea. I was originally going to scuba dive the Yongala Wreck in Townsville. However, due to the weather conditions I wasn’t able to. But if there is a next time in Australia, I’ll have to make that a priority. The Yongala Wreck was voted one of the top 10 wreck dives in the world. The Yongala sank during a cyclone in 1911 with the loss of all 122 people onboard. They say you can still see hand brushes, silverware and chairs from the day it sunk.
Seahorses
Below is an article on Seahorses in Sydney:http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/seahorses-thrive-on-shark-nets-expert-20090519-bdqw.html
Seahorses are fascinating marine organisms; these creatures are bony, scale-less fish, with equine-like facial features. Seahorses swim upright, unlike most fish. They also have flexible, well-defined necks. What I find most interesting about Seahorses is their courtship and mating rituals. Before breeding, Seahorses court for several days. The male approaches the female. They begin to flirt under the sea, changing colors as they swim side by side, holding tails. They fratrenize closely, gripping onto the same seaweed. They even perform a "pre-dawn dance" in unison which leads to a "true courtship dance". After this pleasant soiree, the couple lets go of any anchors and drifts upwards, spiraling, snout to snout. The female then deposits up to 1,500 eggs in the male's frontal pouch. The male carries the eggs for 9 to 45 days. (In other words, the male is the pregnant mate in this scenario, i.e. role reversal.) Watch this beautiful video of the courtship dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvGRVWGpdNg Depending on size, Seahorses can give birth to a wide rainge of badies: from 5 to 1,500 baby seahorses. Most, however, have around 100-200 young. When the male gives birth, the couple no longer cares for the young. Because there is no protected gestation, the survival rate is less than 1% for these tiny upright swimmers, hence the large litters. Talk about every seahorse for himself. These little guys have to grow up from the moment they slip into this world. In high school, I studied the Leafy Sea Dragon. This large and special type of Seahorse adapts to its environment with leafy appendages, camouflaging it in the seagrass. (See picture to the right.) Enlightening Documentary on Leafy Sea Dragons in Australia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuI4ncViU4Y |