Access to transport guests to and from Lady Elliot Island is on a small aircraft, holding 9-13 people, chartered by Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort. Lady Elliot Island is a private closed destination and permission to access the Island is only granted by the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort.
No other flight access is permitted, and boat access is impractical.
Video credit: Rachel Robillard and Camille Garcia. Edit credit: Larissa Liska.
Rachel Robillard sat down with one of Lady Elliot Island's marine experts,
Dr. Fabrice Jaine, about one of the ocean's most misunderstood creatures.... SHARKS.
When exploring the underwater world, it’s as easy as putting on a mask, snorkel, and diving in. But as Rachel Robillard reports, scuba diving requires special skills… and a license.
June 2nd, 2014- Day 3 at Lady Elliot Island
After our morning lecture, we had a free day yay! Kyle, Camille, Julia, Mikayla and I took advantage of our scuba diving license. I knew I had to scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef. It's silly not to! That's the reason why I earned my scuba diving license. Experiencing the world down under (literally) for 45 minutes was the most breathtaking thing I've ever done. We saw FOUR mantarays, turtles and a shark! The shark was off in the distance, so I did not get a good look at it. The mantarays though.... one cam right up to us! It was the beautiful. I am so, very glad I got my scuba diving license to experience the Great Barrier Reef. Thank you Unk Hunk for funding my license :) xo
June 1st,
2014- Day 2 at Lady Elliot Island After a quick breakfast, we began
our day learning bout the biology of corals. Interesting right???? Actually, it
was. There are over 600 species for coral. I originally denied that corals were
a living species. I thought it was a pretty plant that lived under the water.
I’ll admit I was wrong, very wrong. Corals eat, breathe, attack and reproduce.
Joe showed us a video of coral spawning, where the coral releases sperm and egg
to reproduce. Coral spawning occurs one time a year, around November or December.
Why you ask? Since Australia is in the southern hemisphere, the water is warmer
in America’s “winter months”. Our winter is their summer. Coral release their
eggs and sperm at the same time, in sync. If not, they will miss the
opportunity to reproduce. Joe said you can tell when spawning occurs… it
smells. If the smell is too strong, lifeguards will shut down beaches during
spawning season; however, it is uncommon. They also eat and breathe. I did
not know that. Joe showed us a video of coral eating shrimp. Coral will swallow
small species to gain energy. In addition, corals technically breathe. They get
their oxygen from the water. When I say they attack, it’s
interesting. When different species of coral are close together, they will make
war. They compete for resources such as sunlight. There are two types of
competition: direct and indirect. Direct competition is when coral releases
stinging cnidae, also known as their stinging cells. Indirect competition
varies from points of attachment and over growth by growing on top of other
corals. Enrusting corals are known for over growing, over and out, to compete
for space. Scientists usually have a hard time using terminology that is easy to interpret to those not as educated on the topic. Nevertheless, Joe did a great job explaining the biology of corals.
Once our class time came to an end, it was time to get back in the water! We took a snorkel out on the glass-bottom boat. Although I have been on a glass-bottom boat before, it was fun to experience it again with those who have yet to have the opportunity. My classmates were in awe on the concept of having the floor be made of glass.
We dove in as a group and followed our tour guide, Dr. Fabrice. Now that I am scuba certified, it is easy to compare and contrast the experience with snorkeling. At times, I wanted so bad to swim down, stay down and take a picture. With the wet suit as a flotation device, no weights to keep me down, oh and no oxygen tank to allow me to breathe, I could only be under the water for less than a minute.
Regardless, snorkeling was still exciting. The reason why it was really exciting is because I got to see a SHARK!!!! A black tip reef shark to be exact. I'm so happy I get to check off "swim with sharks" on my bucket list. To say the least, I've been able to check off a lot of things on my bucket list while being here, in Australia.
Now that I have done 2 snorkel dives, I'm ready to scuba dive! I signed up to scuba dive tomorrow! I CANNOT WAIT.
Waking up at 6am was easy, knowing that we needed to head to
the airport for Lady Elliot Island. In a 12-seated plane, Rebecca, Kyle, Dr.
Kris and I were separated from the group to go on a separate plane. We
could only bring 10kg (roughly 20 pounds each). As you could imagine, it was
difficult for me to decide what to bring and what to leave behind. Approaching
Lady Elliot Island was breathtaking. You could see the coral and reef circling
the island. It was gorgeous!
Once we landed on the tropical paradise, we are welcomed by Dr. Fabrice Jaine then watched a movie about the island. Our reef instructor Dr. Joseph Pollock, came to the island with us. Dr. Joe knows all about the coral and marine life since he has a MSc in Marine Science from the College of Charleston and a PhD from James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences in Marine and Tropical Biology. His research focused on understanding drivers of coral health and disease on Indo-Pacific reefs. Anyways, we call him Joe. Joe is cool.
Joe suggested we all go snorkeling before lunch. I was not
opposed! Snorkeling with my classmates was an interesting experience. It was
easy to detect the strong and not so strong swimmers.The reef was beautiful! The pictures and
videos I took do not even compare to how gorgeous the reef looks to the naked
eye. Comparing Lady Elliot Island to the Gold Coast, I give Lady Elliot Island
100 more points. WOW it was so breathtaking. From multi-colored fish to sea
cucumbers and starfish to sea turtles… YES sea turtles! Once I saw my first sea turtle (on the first day), I knew I wanted to do a story on them. They are some interesting creatures.
After snorkeling, we ate lunch then had a lecture of the
underwater animals lectured by Joe. After his presentation, Joe took us on a
reef walk during low tide. I found Nemo!! Sea turtles and finding Nemo…. all in one day! I am looking forward to the boat
snorkel and scuba diving. I am curious what to find further from shore.
We dove in as a group and followed our tour guide, Dr. Fabrice. Now that I am scuba certified, it is easy to compare and contrast the experience with snorkeling. At times, I wanted so bad to swim down, stay down and take a picture. With the wet suit as a flotation device, no weights to keep me down, oh and no oxygen tank to allow me to breathe, I could only be under the water for less than a minute.
Regardless, snorkeling was still exciting. The reason why it was really exciting is because I got to see a SHARK!!!! A black tip reef shark to be exact. I'm so happy I get to check off "swim with sharks" on my bucket list. To say the least, I've been able to check off a lot of things on my bucket list while being here, in Australia.
May 31st,
2014 - Day 1 at Lady Elliot Island 
Once we landed on the tropical paradise, we are welcomed by Dr. Fabrice Jaine then watched a movie about the island. Our reef instructor Dr. Joseph Pollock, came to the island with us. Dr. Joe knows all about the coral and marine life since he has a MSc in Marine Science from the College of Charleston and a PhD from James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences in Marine and Tropical Biology. His research focused on understanding drivers of coral health and disease on Indo-Pacific reefs. Anyways, we call him Joe. Joe is cool.
