Our Great Barrier Reef Day -- Our group had booked a reef tour with Quicksilver and their boat, Sonic, took us to three locations on the outer reef. I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef, but at the same time it is pretty heartbreaking to see so much dead coral. When I asked some of the crew about the coral, I was told it was due to a bad storm they had last year. Now I am left to wonder how widespread the damage is. Did they show us the best part of the reef or are they not taking tourists to the pristine areas to protect it from the damage tourist might inflict? As part of this class I had done some research on the reef prior to leaving the US and learned that they are threatened by agricultural pesticides running off into the oceans and the warming of the oceans due to climate change, which is killing the coral food source.
That said, seeing all of the different colorful fish was fantastic. I brought two disposable cameras but won’t see the results until I get back home. The approximate hour it takes to boat back to shore felt so wonderful on the outside deck with the wind blowing through my hair that I didn’t cover up soon enough and am now sunburned.
After we docked, a biologist employed by Quicksilver gave us a history of the company and their conservation activities. It was very interesting to hear how they actually moved part of the reef in order to construct a pontoon. I was most disturbed when she informed us that the human waste collected in the onboard toilets is just dumped into the ocean, and this is perfectly legal. There is a law to try and change.
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