Wednesday 10th June - Townsville

Wednesday 10^th June

On Wednesday we went to the Great Barrier Reef Aquarium. In the Aquarium the are sharks, coral, star fish, sea cucumbers and more marine animals. I learnt anemones have no mouth or bottom because they have a mouth/bottom.

This is a baby salt water croc.

These are coral skeletons. 

This is a giant clam.

This is a leopard shark.

This is a red star fish. 

This is a sea cucumber.

This is a lion fish. 

This is me in with the clown fish. 

This is a turtle in the tunnel tank.

We also went on a tour of the turtle hospital. There was five turtles including a baby called Mertyl, a Green Sea Turtle, a Hawksbill Turtle called Cuddles and a turtle that got hit by a boat.

This is Cuddles.

This is the one that got hit by a boat.

This is Mertyl.

Mum's note:
Before we got to the Reef HQ Aquarium we explored Townsville a little and found Victoria Bridge. Victoria Bridge is another heritage-listed swing bridge. It hasn't opened since 1925 though, unlike the restored one at Sale, NSW.

Under Victoria Bridge, Townsville.

The Reef HQ Aquarium was excellent. Many of the guides wandering around are volunteers, who are very passionate and knowledgable about reef fish. One particular gentleman told me a lot about which fish change gender over their lifespan, and the differences in colouring between adults and juveniles.

Say "Hello" to Mrs Barramundi. She has tired of being Mr Barramundi.

One of the staff who did a lot of the official tour/talks is a PhD student looking at the relationship of the size of the false eye spot on a certain fish with the danger that they live in (predator stress). He was also very knowledgable and friendly, Caleb would have happily talked to him all day!

Caleb touching a starfish in the Discovery Lagoon. He was the first brave volunteer.
This was a great talk. It told kids about the dangers of the reef and how to explore it safely.
Caleb remembers the warning about poisonous Cone Snails - "If it looks like a cone, leave it alone!"

We saw lots of different marine animals being fed, with thorough explanations of their diets and their relationships to other reef creatures. We heard about clown fish feeding their anemones (and we did indeed find out that anemones use the same opening as both a mouth and a bottom, tee hee hee). We heard/saw a Barramundi "boof", which is the suction a barramundi creates when opening their mouth to catch food. We saw the baby croc leap out of the water for his food.

The spidery looking creatures are Cleaner Shrimp. Very clever little critters.

It was also the Hammerhead Shark's turn for a feed today, and I found out that one of the main differences between sharks and rays is the position of the gills. Rays have gills underneath, sharks have them on the side. Another interesting feature is the presence of spiracles. Rays have them and can breathe whilst stationary. Many sharks do not, and have to keep moving. I was shown two species of shark in the tank that have spiracles, and noticed how they like to sit on the bottom, while the other species clearly never stopped cruising.

The Hammerhead gets a fish on a stick.

One of my favourites, the Shovel-nosed Ray.
He used to be called a Flat Shark, but he is definitely a Ray.

 Then, I fed my children to a big fish.....

Just morsels!

 The baby turtle (Myrtle) is a Flatback Turtle, the only species of turtle that is endemic only to Australia. Myrtle is 3-4 months old.