Back in 1992 the Australian Navy was called in to rescue 90,000 giant clams. Well, that was the headline in the Sydney Morning Herald back then – 32 years ago. In fact, the clams were still small, the offspring of a successful artificial breeding program at Orpheus Island. The species, Tridacna gigas, is considered endangered. […]
I am often reminded of the Marcus Aurelius quote: The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself on the side of the insane. And so, I am feeling some relief since I made it crystal clear to everyone who reads me at Facebook and […]
We learn things through experience and by association. When people whom we respect repeat nonsense over and over then we will tend to come to believe this information – even if it makes no sense, and especially if we have no first-hand experience of it to the extent that we can’t know otherwise from first-hand […]
I was at John Brewer reef earlier in the month, and so I checked the AIMS (Australian Institute of Marine Science) water temperature data for this location. The most up-to-date information is to February 7, 2024, and has been measured at 9 metres. It begins February 1, 2016, thus giving us some information on the […]
There used to be crevasses overlaid with large pink plate corals just beyond the boat where you jump off into the lagoon at John Brewer reef, and so I never made it around to the reef front proper – at least not down the sandy front to a depth of 22 metres. I was there […]
There might be 3,000 coral reefs but what makes a special reef, what makes John Brewer Reef the jewel in the crown considering the central region of the Great Barrier Reef – something of greater value amongst other valuable things? This coral reef to the north-east of Townsville was once home to a floating hotel, […]
Last Wednesday, after diving Wheeler, Lynch and Chicken reefs we made it to Davies. I particularly wanted to visit this reef as the Australian Institute of Science (AIMS) has a weather station here at Davies. Stuart put his drone up and got photographs of the weather station and its immediate surrounds. There is no evidence […]
The corals in the central region of the Great Barrier Reef have suffered through this last summer with some bleaching and also damage from cyclone Kirrily. There are seasons under the sea, just as there are on land – and in life. Even though large areas of reef crest are denuded of coral – colonies […]
If you care enough to know what damage, real damage, from a cyclone looks like at a coral reef, get yourself to Townsville and book a trip with Adrenalin Snorkel and Dive to John Brewer Reef. It is not hard to describe parts of John Brewer Reef three weeks after cyclone Kirrily. My dive buddy, […]
