Whales and manta rays and turtles ... oh my!

Last week we visited Lady Elliot Island, in the Great Barrier Reef, for (ahem) the fourth time. It's a wonderfully relaxing place where you can snorkel both in a shallow and accessible lagoon at high tide, and in deeper water if you catch a boat. This was the second time we'd been in winter ... it's a good time to go, as it's nice to escape Canberra's chill, and because the humpback whales and manta rays are migrating so if you're lucky you get to see them. A few pics:

Sunrise

Red-tailed tropicbird and chick

The (old) lighthouse

Abandoned crab shell

Plant nursery

Battery storage for the solar power produced onsite

Pandanus trees

Sunset

Oh, and I went snorkelling seven times in four days! Three times in the lagoon and four times on boat trips. I saw numerous rays (including five mantas) and sharks, glimpsed whales from afar, and gazed upon many smaller critters. It's such a privilege to be able to swim alongside sea creatures.