What a Soggy Planet

 February 11-12, 2025

"How inappropriate to call this planet earth when it is clearly ocean." ~ Arthur C Clarke

Cairns, pronounced "cans," is Australia's gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Actually, GBR is a bit of a misnomer too, because the reef is not one giant organism. It's made up of over 3000 individual reefs all in this watery corridor of the relatively shallow Coral Sea. In order to safely negoiate this waterway without damaging the worlds largest reef system, the Sky took on a "reef pilot" in Sydney and he'll be with us until we leave Darwin in a few more days. 

Painted turtle

We didn't make landfall till early afternoon, but that was fine. Our included Viking tour was the really excellent Australia Aquarium just steps from the Vikings' berth. It was also the best way for us to actually see the residents of the reef.

Bioluminescence isn't just for Pandora (Yes, I'm an Avatar fan!) The aquarium shows off this ray and its little friends to best advantage by using ultraviolet lighting. 

The aquarium is home to reptiles and other denizens of the deep. Their living corals are vibrantly colorful as they wave in the currents. 

Yep, that's a type of clown fish making itself at home among those stinging polyps.

 
 Day 2 docked at Cairns

We boarded a Great Barrier Reef excursionn vessel that would take us an hour away from port to an overgrown "pontoon" tethered over a portion of the reef. It was a rollicking ride and I was glad I'd put on a fresh scopolamine patch.

Once we reached the pontoon, there were several activities available--a semi-submersible, a glass-bottomed boat, snorkeling, diving and even helicopter rides. We were required to fill out what seemed to us to be a very intrusive questionaire, so we left a number of items blank. We had already decided to forego snorkeling. Even without my lung issues, it's jelly season here and even with a special suit, I didn't want to risk it. So we checked the no boxes on everything but the semi-submersible (think the Disney ride with a glass hull in sides of the boat while the deck remains above water) and the glass-bottomed boat.

But one of the employees came back to ask us to fill out the form completely even though we weren't going to engage in any remotely dangerous activities. What are our medical conditions? What medications do we take? What are they for? 

After a bit, I got fed up and asked if she had medical qualifications because these sorts of things are usually only discussed with a doctor. "It's our policy," she replied. "Privacy is my policy," I told her. "We promise not to do anything that will cause you trouble."  

I'm sure she thought I was an "ugly American." I usually try to comply with the rules of the places I visit, but I'd been painfully reminded of my limitations just by being there and knowing I couldn't breathe well enough or swim well enough anymore to snorkel safely. I wasn't up to a stranger poking the wound.

I hope you'll take the time to watch the photo montage the DH has put together. You'll see some wonderful aquarium shots and some less impressive pics of the actual GBR. It's been raining in the area--and I mean Ozarks frog-strangling rain--everyday for over half a month. All that fresh water has turned parts of the ocean brackish and the water is not at all clear. It's a murky green. 

According to the marine biologist on board, that temporarily stresses the coral and the polyps expel the microscopic plants they have absorbed into their tissues. Hence the green because the polyps rely on the photosynthesis of those plants for 90% of their nourishment. The plants need the polyps waste too, so its an agreeable symbiotic relationship, much like our gut flora and fauna. 

The fellow driving our glass bottom boat said he'd never seen it so bad, but the marine biologist said the GBR is not dying. Most of it is very healthy and where it is, the major color of coral are ochres and browns. The blues, reds and purples indicate stress, which most corals recover from,  and there are a few, very few, places where bleaching has occurred. She emphasized the ongoing research into discovering which types of coral will survive best in which part of the GBR system. They are systematically adding, planting if you will, those species in those areas best suited for them. 

In addition to fluctuations in salinity due to rain, and water temperature changes, a particular starfish called the Crown of Thorns is actively destroying the reef by feeding on it. A program to locate and eradicate them is in progress.

But as the Reef changes, I want to share one more observation. Not all islands are the result of volcanic activity. Some are coral islands. If you've been to Antigua in the Caribbean, you've visited one. The coral reaches the surface of the water and dies, providing a foundation for an island to develop on its bones. 

And so it goes...