We Saw A Whale!

Two weeks ago (wow, how has it already been that long?!) Alex & I went scuba diving off the ribbon reefs north of Port Douglas and it was a day full of breathtaking, new experiences.  On our way out to the reef we spotted a whale and the boat stopped while we all gaped in awe for what seemed like an hour (but was, in reality, probably only like 15 minutes).  Whales are, apparently, very curious about humans so it swam right near the boat, bobbing in and out of the water and singing for us to hear.  It was hard to capture on camera (since we mostly just saw its back breaching the surface) but hopefully you can at least get a sense of the enchantment from these few shots.

The diving was also great; we were led by an instructor on all three dives so we found all the cool spots right away and were able to maximize our time underwater.  We swam through coral caves and saw all the usual underwater scenery; a sting ray, turtles a couple of reef sharks and an array of beautiful coral.  The best part of the day, dive-wise, was the drift dive, a dive first for both of us.  We jumped off the side of a moving boat six feet above the water with no air in our BCDs and immediately descended to depth where we were carried off by the current.  I didn’t fare so well with the negative entry but once down at the bottom I loved just floating along enjoying the scenery until we resurfaced forty minutes later at the boat.  Yay for another awesome day of diving the GBR!