Swimming with the turtles
May 25, 2009 by Caitlin
Filed under Featured, Places & Inspiration
I’ve teased you with pictures of turtle tracks on the beach and a cautionary tale about losing my toenail in my zeal to see baby turtles. But I’ve been withholding photos of the actual turtles. My friends, I shall tease you no longer.
Beautiful, isn’t it? This one actually surfaced to breathe right next to us. We were probably only about two metres away – as you can see, it wouldn’t even fit in the photo frame.
The truth is that the snorkelling and diving on my honeymoon more than fulfilled my wildest turtle fantasies. I used up four disposable marine cameras (I’ve just got back the prints from the photo shop this week) in my two weeks at Heron and Wilson Island in early April this year, and it seems that turtles feature in fully half my photos. Of course, I saw other animals as well – including reef sharks, manta rays and plenty of pretty fish and coral.
At Wilson Island, where we stayed for our second week, there is fabulous snorkelling at a coral bommie just off the beach. We went snorkelling every day, sometimes twice, and I don’t think there was a single time when we didn’t see a turtle. Turtles are meant to be solitary creatures but on our second last day, we saw seven turtles, five of them hanging out together on the same giant rock.
They would find (or create) little pockets in the coral and rest there, when they weren’t swimming. We saw a huge three-metre turtle swimming with a young turtle, the length of its flipper, by its side. The most common turtle species in this area is the green turtle and I believe that’s what these were.
A turtle on land is a great lumbering creature but a turtle in the water is full of effortless grace. The top flippers spring out of the turtle’s shoulders, right up by its neck, and look almost exactly like angel’s wings from a Renaissance painting. Only a manta ray can rival the turtle’s elegant, fluid movements in the water (if I’m honest and not just being loyal to the turtles, then the rays probably win).
We also saw baby turtles hatching – an experience that deserves its very own post. Ah, see I’m not quite done with the teasing just yet. 
That’s with a disposable? Well done!
those are amazing photos! the water is very blue too…..mmm jealous…except for the toe thing lol
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Magnificent photos! I love them. I’m so glad you had a wonderful time.
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Fabulous pics! At the risk of seeming impolite, I’d be curious to know how much a disposable marine camera costs and how to get one (if I can afford it that is).
Not impolite at all! They were $AUS25 each from the souvenir shop at Heron Island resort. This did not include processing. I’m sure you can get them cheaper elsewhere, or find deals that include processing by post. Each camera had 27 shots on it.
I spent $AUS100 in total just on the cameras, which was a bit extravagant considering it’s only a couple of hundred dollars for waterproof casing for a digital camera. Then again, my digital camera has now packed it in, so I’m glad I didn’t invest in casing for it!- Caitlin.
Those are fantastic photos! I didn’t think any disposable camera–let alone underwater–could take such great photos. Very nice.
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Wow, those are some beautiful turtle pictures. I love how great the visibility is there. Looking forward to the ones with the baby turtles hatching.
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Gorgeous pictures! I’ve never gotten such good pictures from my disposable cameras.
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