Marine Culture
The Great Barrier Reef is a dazzling natural symphony
Welcome aboard! Please indulge in the comforts of cabin and cocktail, lounge and library. But remember - some of the world's most incredible natural wonders are waiting just outside your cabin. Fantasea Ammarì takes you to the heart of nature's most spectacular wonderland. Just peek over the rail, the miracles of the Reef couldn't be closer...
Like nowhere else in the world!
Multi-coloured coral (it's a living thing!); schools of brightly coloured fish; dolphins and turtles at play. On Fantasea Ammarì you can watch from above the surface or watch from under the water without getting your feet wet (unless you want to!). Here's a brief guide to the wonders that await keen eyes. Whales and Dolphins If you're very lucky you might spot a rare Dwarf Minke whale. These beautiful creatures visit the Reef every year. They are baleen whales, which mean they feed like some people drink their tea - straining tiny plankton and krill through comb-like plates on their upper jaws. Humpback whales also pass through the Whitsundays from June. Another baleen whale, the Humpback is famous for its amazing songs and complex feeding rituals. Acrobats of the ocean, you certainly know when one is nearby because of their playful splashing around. At approximately 16 metres long and weighing in at around 40 tonnes it is hard to miss them!
Whales and Dolphins
If you're very lucky you might spot a rare Dwarf Minke whale. These beautiful creatures visit the Reef every year. They are baleen whales, which mean they feed like some people drink their tea - straining tiny plankton and krill through comb-like plates on their upper jaws.
Humpback whales also pass through the Whitsundays from June. Another baleen whale, the Humpback is famous for its amazing songs and complex feeding rituals. Acrobats of the ocean, you certainly know when one is nearby because of their playful splashing around. At approximately 16 metres long and weighing in at around 40 tonnes it is hard to miss them!
The Dugong
Another amazing mammal that (like us) chooses to bask in the warm waters of the Whitsundays is the Dugong.
Dugongs breathe air through nostrils into their lungs, and can stay underwater for about six minutes. With a lifespan of about 50 years in the wild some will spend their days alone, while others choose to live in small herds.
Sadly, Dugongs have been disappearing at an alarming rate, threatened by rising pollution, coastal development, entanglement in fishing nets and hunting and poaching for meat and trophies.
Turtles
Did you know?
The heaviest Leatherback turtle ever recorded weighed in at 916kg! Sea Turtles can live up to 100 years! Six out of the seven species of sea turtles can be found enjoying the bountiful waters of the Reef. Green, Leatherback, Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Flatback and Olive Ridley turtles all choose to visit the Great Barrier Reef throughout the year.
Sea turtles lay their eggs in sand. Once hatched, baby turtles make the long trek from the sandy beach down to the water where they are carried out to sea on ocean currents. Turtles will travel thousands of miles around the ocean before they are fully grown. Amazingly, on reaching breeding age, they return to the area where they hatched to lay their own eggs. All without signposts or satellite navigation!
Facts about Fish
Fastest. Some baby anemone fish can swim at 9.5 body lengths per second just 24 hours after hatching. By contrast the Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe can only swim at two body lengths per second (that's still pretty fast!). Slowest. Despite its racy name, the seahorse is the slowest horse, and takes about 2.5 days to travel a kilometre. And it's the male which gives birth.
Five of the seven species of coral trout occur on the Great Barrier Reef. Coral trout change sex as they age, starting life as a female and becoming male as they grow. All fish have ear bones called otoliths. They grow every year and scientists can use these bones to find out how old the fish was.
Sharks and rays are also reef fish, but are different to the bony fish because they have cartilaginous, rather then bony skeletons. Cartilage is softer and more flexible than bone. Bird Life The natural magic of the Reef doesn't just lie beneath the waves. The Great Barrier Reef is home to some extremely rare and wonderful bird life.
White-breasted sea eagles, for example, live on the Queensland coast and the islands of the Whitsundays. They fish by snatching their prey from the water's surface. The rare Roseate Tern migrates from the islands of the Great Barrier Reef as far as Japan, and is protected by the Japan Australia Migratory
Birds Act.
Located on the Great Barrier Reef, Raine Island is well known among researchers for the crowded breeding colonies of boobies, frigate birds, night herons and seagulls. The local birdlife is stunning - but remember, by feeding birds you are interfering with their natural ecosystem and feeding patterns.
Just don't do it!
