Ohhh barracuda..

Something about a 6am snorkel is just magical. I do wish we had more sunshine though...

It was a “typical” snorkel for LEI: turtles, a bunch of baby barracudas, a squid, plenty of parrotfish and the like. Joey, ahead of the troop, saw a 5 ft + long grey reef shark.

The winds were awful and the currents were pretty wretched as well but it was still a wonderful experience. It's hard to call any snorkeling experience on the Great Barrier Reef a bad time.

After snorkeling at 6 I had a short 3 hour break to eat breakfast, watch cute little buff-banded rails sneak my bread and enter in more data from last night. With no time to dry, I grabbed the snorkel mask, fins and camera (all the essentials for this island) and hopped on the shuttle to the boat.

It was a sunny morning, unusual for this trip, and the mantas were out. Almost as if we were watching hawks from above, the mantas encircled large isolated blocks of reef, feeling as they swam. Diving down time and time again, I was able to get a close look at them. Regrettable, since my ear isn't fond of the pressure and it still hurts. Worth it.

We also saw several sea turtles feeding on the bottom, mostly greens but I suspect that one was a hawksbill. Once we all reached the bulk of the reef, the sunshine pierced through the very large waves, revealing the brilliant colors that the fish possessed.

I think I have an unhealthy obsession with parrotfish.

All the time in the world simply isn't enough to take in all the wonders that the Great Barrier Reef has to offer. Fully exhausted though, we all took the chilly ride back to the LEI main area and lazed by the pool before lunch.

I've never napped so much in my life- I suppose to invading ear infection probably didn't help matters much seeing as I woke up still shaky on my legs and under the firm impression that the room was slowly rocking side to side. I'm really relieved that reception had medicine. And I brought ibuprofen. An ear infection would definitely be a one way trip to pain city and a near ruined rest of the trip.

We had a tour of the island facilities by Bob, one of the the many Bobs working here. He showed us the desalination plant that is used on the island as well as the giant array of solar panels that the island's power is derived from. From there the whole group assembled on the opposite side of the isle to see the sunset.

Tonight's evening was filled with food, an intriguing interlude from the dive instructors involving peppers, and more lecture time. I made a valiant attempt to find some critters on the beach after sunset which was mildly successful.... a stray ghost crab. I think the wind was just far too strong to (a) lure any animals out to play and (b) see into the water.