This week has been typical of the highs and lows of life afloat: weather bound at Lady Musgrave, waiting for a long blow to pass, a few ambivalent snorkels, leading us to reflect on coral health.

We must admit to having been quite bored and restricted as the inclement days lasted for longer than hoped. Everyone deals with the limitations differently: we read, watch movies, snooze, chat, but in the end, no one likes being confined to the boat, physically inactive.

This week has been even harder for our friend Bill. He had not dived for a long time and was shocked by the changes on the GBR. We have often discussed the state of the reef with him and he follows our blog, but nothing compares with seeing it with your own eyes. It hit him like a ton of bricks. And then there was the weather… we were boat bound for a week which was not much fun. Although we are not responsible for what the weather dishes out, when we invite someone to join us, we want them to have fun, and his time on Anui was not as good as we hoped. Migraines plagued him too, and he spent more time hiding in the dark than interacting as normal.

Despite the conditions, we still got in the water a few times. The reef has a way of drawing us in, like a group of addicts who need their fix. You never quite know what will happen… it could be a sense of wonder, but more often than not it will break your heart, leaving you grieving at witnessing the slow death of an old friend. One thing is certain, you cannot dive at the Great Barrier Reef and be unaffected by what you see: whether it is vibrant, abundant marine life, or a struggle for survival.

When we enter the water, we find it is important for our own sanity to do so with intent. It might be looking for a particular type of fish or coral, it might be searching for tiny little critters, or for a sense of calm and freedom from pain! The reality these days is that what we see can often be depressing unless we carefully manage our dives and what we choose to focus on.

Lady Musgrave’s northwest wall tells the story of a struggling reef and our ambivalence about its state.

Although the coral lacks vibrant hues there are large expanses of live Porites and Merulina in monochrome beige, frequented by colourful fish and endearing turtles:

Some of the Porite mounds are invaded by ‘Entangled/mat-like’ macroalgae which according to our friends on Eye On The Reef highly limit coral larvae from landing to start new coral colonies. At least the turtles love it though, being one of the favourite foods for juvenile green turtles. We are told this is the way of all coral reefs if we don’t reverse climate change immediately, as a shift from coral to algae is what is currently occurring around the world.

There are areas of dead coral, upturned by storms, eaten alive by Crowns of Thorns, ravaged by successive bleaching events and yet others affected by abnormal growth. There are even some patches fluorescing, a last ditch effort at survival:

There are areas of recovery with branching coral sprouting out right next to crumbling, lifeless patches:

There are little islands of life with vibrant anemones and their symbiotic dwellers which fill you with delight until you look around and see the desert that surrounds them:

And then there are healthy spots full of brightly coloured fish which stop you in your tracks and leave you wondering how it all fits together, and all this in a relatively small area.

Despite the ups and downs, we are glad we came and snorkeled. But as Bill puts it: “Is it all that’s left?” Yes, you would be fooling yourself if you concluded from our photos that the reef is in good nick. It is but a shadow of its old self.

After over a week at Lady Musgrave we had a busy last day: walk right around and through the cay, long snorkel, then out we went to pick up an outside mooring for an easy departure early the next morning, as a few boats were coming in, enticed by two days of gentler weather.

Return to Burnett Heads

We were hoping we would have a few calm days after the blow to allow us to revisit Heron Island, but the forecast changed again and with only a single day of light winds we abandoned the idea and instead opted to use the easterly wind to sail back to Burnett Heads. And once again, we have looped the loop.

For Bill it meant a return home to normality, for us a short stay at the Bundaberg Port Marina to pick up and install our new water maker membranes, attend to a few leaks and do the usual clean up.

With another long bout of inclement conditions coming, we are not sure what we will do. The weather is not playing nice so we won’t start another loop yet!