Whales Will Be Here Soon

The whales will soon be back on the Great Barrier Reef. Be sure not to miss out. Book your diving trip at Calypso Adventures and spot a whale on the way.

CALYPSO II - Reef Exploration 10TH APRIL 2008

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SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLS OF FISH

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"Descending Eddy Reef today was everything we expected and more"

TRACEY & MICHAEL - Canada

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"Thank you so much to all the crew at Calypso. It was our very first time on the Great Barrier Reef , our cold feet were soon warmed to the experience by the rich marine life and the special care given to us, THANKS AGAIN CALYPSO!"

SARAH & GEOFF - UK

Reef Exploration Calypso II - 26th December Boxing Day

Adults are not the only ones who get to dive. Children 12 years and over can also learn. As these two did on boxing day 2007. A truly unique experience and confidence booster.

Our Dive Instructors have all the patience to teach and guide all levels of experience.

Congratulations on diving the Great Barrier Reef!!

Calypso II Reef Exploration 1st December 2007

Calypso Dive offers Underwater Photography courses for Advanced divers whom are interested... We can have you feeling like a 'pro' in no time, and on the Great Barrier Reef at that!

1st November Great Barrier Reef Exploration Calypso II

"The Giant Clams are my favourite, thanks to the dive crew for such a special day"

Janine, Ireland

Wednesday 19th September 2007, Calypso II Great Barrier Reef Trip

"Cheers guys for a fantastic day, See you tomorrow & the next day!"
Laura & Gary Kenny, Scotland

"Europe envies Australia for your Great Barrier Reef!

We had a wonderful day & wonderful snorkeling conditions!"

Stephanie & Sven, Germany

"Great day on the reef Good Crew & Good Boat.

Well worth the trip!"
P&J Wood

"Great day, terrific crew, beautiful reef.

Thanks"

Ree Mc Gowan Wilson “high on sugar”

Tuesday 18th September 2007, Calypso II Reef Trip

"Thank you to all the calypso crew,

you made our experinec at the reef one we won’t forget."

Briana & Luke

· Cheerful boat
· Awesome diving on the Great Barrier Reef
· Thoughtfull staff
The vocabulary the frenchy has just learned.

Thanks to the French lively guy, to David & the gorgreous blonde girl!"
The Frenchies, Arno, Tom & Vivianne

"Had an awesome day.

It was a real experience I will never forget.

Thanks Guys!"

Sawtells

Friday 14th September 2007, Calypso Reef Trip 2007

"I saw a shark and a turtle! Thank you!

One of the best things I’ve done in OZ.

Had a great day even the cheesy speech from the skipper!"
Owen, Brighton UK

"The staff was so kind, helpful, fun and accommodating.

Thanks for the good times in the sun and the lunch.

Happy birthday to me!"

Rachel from California USA &

Doug from NY USA

"It was impossible to ask for a more perfect day!

Thank you to all the staff.

A dive to remember a holiday of a lifetime.

All the best"

Debbie & Larry

Coral Reefs Declining Fast

Coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian oceans are disappearing faster than had previously been thought, a scientific study has shown.
Nearly 1,554 sq km (600 sq miles) of reef have disappeared each year since the 1960s - twice the speed at which rainforest is being lost.

The corals are vanishing at a rate of 1% per year, a decline that has begun decades earlier than expected.

Details of the survey appear in the journal Plos One.



Read more at BBC online.

Jet Ski Mission Beach

People are often asking where you can jet ski in Mission Beach. The simple answer is to ask the guys from Dunk Jet Sports to come and pick you up then you can go for a play around Dunk Island which usually has calmer waters in the bay. Dunk Jet Sports have a sister company that operate Great Barrier Reef diving trips from Mission Beach - Calypso Dive can be found down the Wongaling Beach Road.

My web site design company often go jet skiing around Dunk with the guys - they are excellent.

Sea Snakes

Although most sea snakes can be found living in the waters of Singapore and Borneo, there are also a lot that live off the Great Barrier Reef. In fact, there are in the region of 17 - 21 species of sea snake and Australia is home to at least 14 of them. Ideally, sea snakes are suited to tropical waters, but they can also be found in subtropical seas.

Molluscs

The Great Barrier Reef is home to around 4,000 species of mollusc, including the giant clam - the world's largest bivalve mollusc - which reaches the great age of 70 years and measures 1m in length. Most giant clams are hermaphrodites. The feathery gills of a mollusc allow them to absorb the oxygen from the water.

Sea Turtles

The reef is home to six of the seven known species of sea turtle, which are: green, leatherback, hawksbill, loggerhead, flatback and Olive Ridley. When the eggs belonging to sea turtles are laid, the creatures possess no gender. In fact it is the job of the sand to determine the sex of the sea turtles. The females who become sexually active at 30 - 50 years old can lay 100 eggs at any one time. Ocean currents aid the hatchlings into the waters and they can travel hundreds of miles before becoming fully grown. When they too become old enough to have babies they return to where they were hatched and lay their eggs there. The leatherback is the biggest sea turtle, weighing in at 916kg.

Fish on The Reef

One of the most encouraging tourist attractions to the Great Barrier Reef is that it is home to about 1,500 million fish and every year this number multiplies - as well as the amount of species that can be found. In just one hectare alone there can be in the region of 200 species of fish with different sizes, shapes and colours that can be categorised and identified. Angelfish, bannerfish, moorish idol, batfish, blennies, gobies, lizardfish, needlefish, halfbeaks, porcupinefish, pufferfish, snappers, soldierfish, squirrelfish, triggerfish, damselfish, Maori wrasse, butterfly fish, cardinal fish, groupers, rockcods and basslets, parrotfish, surgeonfish, triggerfish and anemone fish or clown fish can all be found swimming around the coral. However, as amazing as these fish are, they don't eat food outside the coral reef so it's best if visitors don't feed them.

Coral

At first sight, coral may be believed to be just a rock on the seabed, but in actual fact it is something more fascinating. It is actually created by living animals called polyps that produce a chalky, limestone skeleton as they expand. Coral can be seen to expand when the polyps multiply and divide in a technique known as budding.



Polyps take their nourishment from planktonic4 prey, including simple single-celled algae5 called zooxanthellae6(pronounced zoo-zan-thelly). Coral that lives off zooxanthellae expands faster than that which doesn't. Coral comes in various colours, shapes and sizes. Some agglomerations create features such as bommies7 and drop-off cliffs8. Coral displays many vibrant colours as a result of live coral and its algae that can reach an age of hundreds of years. To see these wonderful colours it is best to view the coral at night using a halogen lamp shone from above. Every year, around the full moon in November, the sea spreading up the reef from Lady Elliot Island in the south gradually turns pink. This is due to 135 species of hard coral releasing their eggs and sperm for fertilisation. It takes about two weeks for coral to reproduce before the water appears clean again.

Great Barrier Reef Past and Present

Historically, the Great Barrier Reef has caused problems for many a ship, dating back to 1770 when Captain James Cook bumped into it in the Endeavour. This event lead to Cooktown being founded. The most famous wreck to have occurred due to the existence of the Great Barrier Reef is that of HMS Pandora in 1791, which is still being examined today. Of course, the reef has been known to the aboriginal people for many millennia: they possibly encountered the reef as long ago as 60,000 BC, at about the time when the reef first started to form. The aboriginals used the reef to sustain themselves as well as others that lived off it; today they help the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority maintain this natural beauty. The GBRMPA was established in 1975. It is the largest marine park in the world and is funded by Australian and Queensland Governments. The latter also oversees the Park Authority and ensures that the Reef is used appropriately, protected and understood by visitors.

Introduction to The Reef

Located in the Coral Sea off the north-east coast of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world and in 1981 was listed as a World Heritage site. It measures 348,700 square kilometres in area and is about 2,300 kilometres long, running from just north of Bundaberg to the tip of the Cape York Peninsula. The Great Barrier Reef contains over 3,000 reefs, which vary in size from 1 hectare to over 10,000. It also includes 760 fringing reefs, 300 coral cays and 618 continental islands. As the world's largest coral reef ecosystem, the Great Barrier Reef is home to a large population of dugong, 1,500 species of fish, 400 species of coral, 4,000 species of mollusc, 500 species of seaweed, 215 species of bird, 16 species of sea snake and six species of sea turtle.