Entries about snorkling peart reef

One of the perks of living on a boat on the river, was the short distance to go out to the Great Barrier Reef. Heading out from the marina

we drove down the river,

past this old forgotten boat

and out to Peart Reef.
Stretching over 2,000km from the tip of the Caps York to Bundabrg in the south, it includes approximately 2,900 individual reefs. the exceptionally divers landscapes and seascapes of this world Heritage Area support a vast array of life including 360 types of hard coral and 1,600 species of fish.
In the smaller boat we could go as shallow as 4m, and it was amazing to be on top of the reef, clearly visible below

I spent nearly an hour snorkelling, the wind was less than 10knt and the conditions perfect, and as soon as I put my head under the water, I couldn't wait to go exploring, this video shows why...

the coral and fish were amazing, here's some thigns I saw - lots of coral

lots of fish

Parrot Fish

Angel Fish

all the time Grant was keeping an eye on me form the boat

Grant enjoys fishing, so it was an opportunity for him to reef fish,

He caught the biggest fish of the day, a Coral Trout

although this Red Throated Emperor was bigger, but something else got it before he could reel it in

He caught a good sized Reef Cod

It was a great opportunity for me to do some fishing too
It was a little strange catching fish I'd been admiring and photographing, like this Fusalier

Sweet Lips

Reef Cod

Finger Mark

and this Stripy that was put back and used for bait for something bigger - that never came

but as long as nothing is wasted, and we eat what we catch (or put it back if it's below legal size limit) then it was ok.

Heading back before the wind increased, I enjoyed driving the boat

You can tell which line mine was .. the straight one!