Heron Island Field Trip 1999

As the sun rose slowly over the small town of Gladstone, we awoke in anticipation of the boat trip ahead of us. Tales of rough seas and sickness plagued our minds. After a short bus trip and much popping of pills we boarded the Reef Adventurer II.

The sea conditions turned out to be quite tolerable and as Heron Island came into view on the horizon most of us still had breakfast in our stomachs.

Finally the boat docked, just next to an old shipwreck, and we piled off the boat eager to check out the research station where we would be spending the next six days.

For those of us who hadn’t been to Heron Island before, we were overwhelmed by the serenity. The water was crystal clear and so was the sky. The island possessed a feeling of peace disturbed only by the occasional (well, actually quite frequent) falling Noddy turd.

The next six days were spent snorkelling, diving, swimming, watching turtles, sipping cocktails and occasionally sleeping on the beach. Of course, we did do a bit of research as well.

Research was done on:

• the effects of guano on plant performance,
• the distribution of sea cucumbers,

• the effects of crevices in submarine walls on diversity,
• the effects of the shipwreck on coral diversity and abundance
• the effects of wind conditions on turtle laying (hmmmm….that doesn’t sound right)
• the social behaviour of the birds formerly known as herons (hence the name of the island), but now known as Eastern Reef Egrets (Egret Island doesn’t quite have the same ring to it though does it?).

Plus there were other research projects that have escaped my mind for now.

The boat went out twice a day taking snorklers and divers out to some amazing places. We also found time to play a bit of beach volleyball, throw a frisbee or just relax on the beach with a good book.

The nightlife basically consisted of either sitting around the research station drinking or going to the resort bar for a few cocktails and a dance (most of the time we were the only ones on the dance floor). The night usually found us lying on the beach being sent to sleep by the rhythmic beating of female turtles digging holes for their eggs, woken only occasionally by the feel of a hatchling crawling over us on its way to the water.

Needless to say, everybody who went had the time of their lives and I wouldn’t be surprised to see most of them back there next year.

A HUGE thanks to Lisa for organising such a successful trip!