With absolutely 10/10 conditions, there hasn’t been much that has gone unnoticed under or above the water. Before even getting wet our guests have been treated to sneak previews on the surface of Green Sea Turtles taking a few short breaths before heading back down to graze on the sea grass.
Turtles, like us breathe air – so when they are active and feeding, they will generally surface every 5 or so minutes to refill their lungs so they can continue grazing. This makes for amazing under water encounters and photos, there’s nothing quite like being next to a Green Sea Turtle while it takes in some fresh salty air.
On our guided snorkels this week we have seen multiple turtles all hanging around a special spot we call “The Turtle Rock”. This isolated patch of reef is a known local cleaning station which services not only our turtles but any other marine life that requires a little once over by our Cleaner Wrasse (a small fish about 1 inch in length brave enough to enter the mouths and gills of fish, sharks, turtles or whoever you are! Giving the host a spring an all over clean inside and out! In return this is how the Cleaner Wrasse feeds and the host is left clean and healthy). The turtles know that this is where the Cleaner Wrasses’ office is and visit almost every single day. This week we were lucky to encounter not only our Green Sea Turtles here but a less frequently sighted species of turtle on Mack Reef – A Hawksbill Turtle!
Coming into the warmer months of the year means that Moon Jellyfish aren’t far away which are a crowd favourite on the menu for our turtles – they can even get a natural high from these jellyfish. If they’ve had one too many this makes for an extremely relaxed turtle with absolutely no regard for personal space but another epic opportunity for some wild photos that would give David Attenborough a run for his money!
Get yourself on board with Ocean Safari as we head into turtle mating season, always an active and exciting time of year that you don’t want to miss!
