Splish Splash

I have done several things since my last post. One thing I did was whitewater raft on the Tully River. It was incredibly fun. It was also great because it was through the rainforest and there were super bright blue butterflies flying near us. Unfortunately the area had been hit especially hard by Cyclone Yasi last year and is still in the process of recovery. It was interesting to see how the trees are working to recolonize after a disturbance.

The biggest thing I did was snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef. I have always wanted to go there and it was especially rewarding since it gave me a chance to see some of the things I learned about in my marine biology class last year. I saw several different kinds of coral and really pretty tropical fish. I saw some bright blue and green parrotfish. I saw two rays, one of which was a stingray, definitely one of my favorite marine animals. I was also super excited to see a shark. The kind I saw is called a Whitetipped shark and they are not dangerous to humans, still it was very cool to see one. Also, the shark was at a cleaner station where a fish was cleaning off parasites and debris and a remora was attached to it to get a free ride and food. I saw some of those super big giant clams. They are interesting not just for there size but also because they attack themselves differently than most clams so that the algae that live in their mantle can get sunlight to photosynthesize with. I also saw three kinds of anemone fish, hello Nemo!

The final thing that I did besides move into my room is go to the final Harry Potter movie. Since I'm in Australia I got to see it earlier than all of my friends in the States which was awesome. It came out here on the 13th so a bunch of us crazy Australearn kids went to it last night.