Heron Island

Welcome to the Great Barrier Reef!
      Even after our perfect Lamington experience, tiny Heron is definitely my favorite. We’re staying at the University of Queensland’s Heron Island Research Station taking our Coral Reef Ecosystems class— taught by Australia’s leading climate change and coral reef expert, professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, another coral researcher, Selina Ward, and Kevin Arrigo, a Stanford oceanographer (and our “faculty sponsor”) with whom I took an Earth Systems class last winter.
      Heron Island is a coral cay on the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, the largest reef system in the world. At 2300 kilometers long, it’s bigger than the entire country of Italy! The GBR supports about 400 different coral species, 2000 kinds of fish, and 4000 types of mollusks. But much to my surprise, only 33% of the Great Barrier Reef is fully protected— actually a significant amount recently solidified in July 2004. Like Moreton Bay Marine Park, the other 66% of the GBR has been specially zoned to specify where recreational, commercial fishing, and trawling is allowed.
      To get to this isolated and remote paradise we drove seven hours in the middle of the night, arriving at the Gladstone dock to catch our ferry early in the morning. The wretched two-hour journey across the ocean was the worst I’ve ever endured— and I grew up on boats. Rolling seas and crashing waves had nearly everyone wet, uncomfortable, and sick. One of our tutors said that in the forty-odd times he’s traveled to Heron, he’s never had a more horrible ride. And the boat crew itself admitted that our particular ferry had never seen such stormy seas!
      Needless to say, it was a relief to finally sight the small, 0.17 square kilometer island that we’d call home for the next two weeks. As we chugged into port we passed an ancient wreck surrounded by warm turquoise waters and a white sand beach. Kevin, Selina, and some of the other tutors met us after disembarking and we had a short orientation before a delicious lunch catered by the research station’s incredible cook, Maggie. We also divided ourselves into rooms— unlucky people slept in miniscule, hot eight-person tents while others like me waited for the house-like cabins. In mine no one wanted the stuffy, dark corner room— conditions that don’t bother me at all. So I ended up with an amazing single!
      That afternoon the staff distributed wetsuits and we went snorkeling as a group. Those of us with experience followed one of the tutors all the way to the wreck— a long swim because the water was so choppy. I saw my first sea turtle while snorkeling, and our tutor Josh pointed out a poisonous lionfish with lots of red and white stripes and pointy protrusions. Being in such beautiful blue water was wonderful! But I was so exhausted after such intense physical activity, our sleepless night on the bus, and the uncomfortable ride on the ferry that I went to bed immediately after dinner and didn’t wake up until breakfast at 7 AM.
      For the next five days our daily schedule was quite regimented and busy. We attended lectures after breakfast and before and after dinner, and we divided into small groups to complete a different “lab” each day. Some labs took the entire day while others were much shorter. On the first day my group learned about scientific transect methodology. During mid-tide we walked out to the reef flat surrounding the island and counted coral species along varying transects. The wind was so oppressive that even though we were on a beautiful island on the Great Barrier Reef, we were all freezing! That afternoon our tutor Juan Carlos talked to us about transects and then we were free. Unfortunately I suffered a severe migraine the first few days on Heron so I spent my extra time lying down or sleeping.
      The second lab was definitely my favorite, as we snorkeled out past the reef flat to the reef crest during the afternoon high tide to learn about fish biology. We split into teams of two and each pair received a digital camera sealed in an underwater case to document the fish we found— certainly an effective way of teaching! Along the way Ove pointed out the parrotfish (big, brightly colored herbivores that scrape the algae off the corals and prevent macro-algae growth from smothering them— an activity you can hear underwater!), butterflyfish, damselfish, wrasse, gobiidae, blenniidae, and more. He also told us about two of my favorite fish relationships that follow the principle of mutualism, a kind of symbiosis in which both parties benefit. First, we observed the small cleaner wrasse removing the parasites from the mouths of larger fish. We also spotted the shrimp and the goby living together in a burrow of sand that the blind shrimp digs and the goby protects. On our swim back my partner Gwen and I found a big blue coral trout and a brown camouflaged nudibranch! Seeing and learning about this vibrant underwater world was just as magical as walking through the dripping wet, green, and noisy rainforest.
      After a quick afternoon tea we trooped up to Shark Bay, a crystal-clear cove with rays, skates, and sharks skimming the surface. My favorite was the giant shovel-nose ray which is long and tan with a pointed face. I also really liked the smaller eagle and black stingrays and was thrilled to see black and white tip reef sharks swimming underneath us. That night we had a party on the beach!
      The next morning after lecture our group assembled again to review our fish photographs. Most of them were awfully blurry, but Ove helped us identify each species and told us more about the significance of each. I’m so glad my group had the fish lab in the beginning, because every time I went snorkeling afterwards I always knew what I was seeing. Ove is a fantastic teacher and one of his after-dinner lectures was so inspiring that I lay in bed tossing and turning thinking about all the things I want to do and learn during my life.
      That afternoon we helped Kevin take phytoplankton samples on a boat for lab number three. We dragged a net through the water at five different sites to collect the plankton. The tow certainly didn’t take much effort so we thoroughly enjoyed the fast ride on the little rubber boat. Back on land we used microscopes to analyze our samples and determine the different kinds of plankton at each site. Looking through the scope at all of these beautiful, complex but miniscule formations was wonderful. We saw foraminifera, dinoflagellates, radiolarians, diatoms, terapods, jellyfish, trichodesmium, sponge spicules, crab and lobster larvae— and noticed that the amount of copepods dropped at the reef crest towards the reef flat because of the millions of damselfish known as the “wall of mouths” that eat them. After lecture that night we sampled from the dock and found a huge bloom of the orange trichodesmium.
      Lab number four consisted of measuring reef rubble (dead coral) biodiversity. Luckily the wind had finally died down and our tutor Davey led us on a walk through the reef flat during the morning’s mid-tide to collect some rubble pieces. Just like our snorkel with Ove, having an expert guide to point out the types and structures of coral— not to mention various reef organisms— was incredible. One of the greatest aspects of this Australia program is learning about the environment from those who know it best. Knowing how to identify acropora, pomocentrus, scaridae, labridae, chaetodons, and others is an invaluable gift that I can someday pass on to my own children.
      On the reef walk with Davey we spotted an epaulette shark, which is quite small, brown, and dotted and likes to zoom through the shallow coral. We also saw so many sea cucumbers of all colors and sizes. There are small and thin pinkish ones, big fat tan ones known as “bread loaves,” and other medium-sized purple ones. Finally we found some dead coral and brought it back to start analyzing for the entire afternoon. We broke the samples apart and out tumbled worms, crabs, snapping shrimp, and tiny fish. Our job was to identify the species and the amount of animals in each. In our piece of rubble, for example, Gwen and I found fifteen Porcellanidae petrolisthes, a type of crab. This lab certainly illustrated the great diversity of life within dead coral!
      Our final lab involved trooping out to the reef flat again with Selina to break off little pieces of the most prevalent Heron coral, the pointy acropora species. We brought them back to our makeshift laboratory to perform a series of complicated tests using machines such as a spectrometer to measure the amount of chlorophyll within their symbiotic dinoflagellates, or zooxanthellae. Given that I have never set foot in a biology lab I had no idea what was going on, but my mates were very helpful and understanding. Even though this lab was the most difficult for me I still enjoyed the exposure to scientific equipment. And luckily we finished early so I had plenty of time to fill out my housing application for Florence next quarter! I can’t believe that it will be an entirely different adventure.
      On the sixth day we listened to a few morning lectures and then took off for an afternoon boat snorkel— definitely a Heron highlight. The little rubber inflatable brought us far out to the reef crest on the other side of the island with the most beautiful corals I have ever seen. They were of many different pastels— pink, purple, blue, yellow, green, and orange— and shapes— foliaceous, encrusting, plate-like, branching, massives, and soft. We could even swim through their gigantic crevasses and dive down to see gorgeous fishes bobbing everywhere.
      Unfortunately I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening and the entire next day studying for our exam. We had more than twenty lectures to review so much of my free time during those first few days when I didn’t have a headache was devoted to learning the hefty oceanography, weather patterns, coral and fish biology material. The Heron course with its emphasis on hardcore science is by far the hardest for me, so I had to do a lot of studying. It was worth it though because on the eighth day I did well on the exam.
      I was so glad to finish that test as soon as it was over Laurie and I walked around the island to take pictures. Heron is so small that circumnavigating only takes about half an hour! We went on another boat snorkel that afternoon to Blue Pools, an area with lots of reef sharks and sea turtles (one swam so close to me I could touch it!). Then we all dressed up for dinner and walked over to the luxurious Heron Island Resort for a fun night of partying— a celebration that marked the end of the course and the beginning of four free days for those like me not undertaking a Targeted Research Project on Heron.
      At 8 AM the next morning more than twenty of us assembled for a SCUBA diving expedition to The Bommie, apparently a very famous site on the Great Barrier Reef. The resort had reserved a dive boat just for us. I learned how to dive at home in Boston this summer, and this was my first in tropical waters. Sadly for me it was what my instructor would have called a “disaster dive.” I had a lot of problems adjusting my weight and fitting my mask properly in the beginning, and wasted so much air that I only lasted 30 minutes underwater.
      Despite this dive, however, these four carefree days were definitely the happiest of my entire quarter. I snorkeled with my friend Micki as soon as I returned from diving and we went again after lunch. It was low tide, so we walked out along the cement dam near the wreck to avoid getting cut on the reef flat, and on our way we spotted a cute speckled epaulette shark! We spent hours swimming along the reef crest that afternoon— vibrantly colored because the shallower low tide meant that the corals received more sunlight. Looking down at those sparkling spiky masses with thousands of rainbow fish twirling about is an image I’ll always remember— not to mention that we saw nine sea turtles, five black tip reef sharks, and four pods of cuttlefish! It was an absolutely incredible snorkel.
      I spent the latter part of the afternoon relaxing and planning my Targeted Research Project on the beach. Mine is about the effect of wildlife photography, so I’ll put together an assortment of photographs and test them on my Stanford group and hopefully some other researchers at UQ. Most people conducted rushed and hectic coral projects during these last four days on Heron, so I’m very thankful that I had the free time to snorkel, dive, and laze about by the sea. That afternoon, for example, I found a lovely path winding through the pisonia forest to an isolated place called North Beach.
      The next morning I decided to improve my diving record so I went out again on the resort’s 8 AM and 11 AM dives with my friend Jenny. Jenny is a very experienced SCUBA diver who grew up in the Philippines, so it was wonderful to have her advising me. The resort also gave us a great discount because we were from the research station. During the first dive at Turtle Gully we saw some absolutely beautiful corals and a tiny pink nudibranch! We went back to The Bommie for our second dive, so I was happy to concentrate on the corals and wildlife I had missed previously. And at the end two dolphins followed our boat jumping at its bow!
      After such an incredible morning I was ready for the beach, so I went back to North Beach to read about Australia’s forced indigenous child removal program for our Australian Studies class. I’m writing an essay about Queensland’s policy, and the subject is quite depressing but very, very interesting, especially because I wish we were learning more about Australia’s Aboriginal history.
      That night was another Heron highlight, as we went on a night snorkel! My small group of six was last, just as the full moon rose over the dark, quiet ocean. We each carried little flashlights and somberly followed the tutor leading us out to the wreck, where many enormous loggerheads spend the night safely tucked under its ledges. We spotted eight of them as well as two lionfish. We were all in awe of the gigantic turtles and this night was truly unforgettable.
      The next morning Jenny and I tried to go diving, but the eight o’clock was fully booked so Micki and I snorkeled near the resort instead. While snorkeling with Ove during the fish lab my partner Gwen found a blue starfish, Linckia laevigata, and I had been dying to see one ever since. Starfish were my favorite animals growing up and blue is my favorite color, so every time I went snorkeling or diving on Heron I looked everywhere for them! Finally this morning Micki and I spotted not one, but THREE blue starfish! I was beyond ecstatic.
      A lot of us were able to get on the eleven o’clock dive that took us along the edge of nearby Wistari Reef. We drifted the whole way, so I didn’t use much air and was able to enjoy the colors and fish surrounding me. We even found a small blue nudibranch with silver, pink, and yellow dots along its back, and in the distance we saw a massive faraway bull ray just gliding along by itself. This was certainly a lovely way to finish on the Great Barrier Reef, although I do hope to dive again in the Daintree.
      That afternoon was also really exciting as I watched the Red Sox win the World Series all the way from Australia! The staff at the resort was kind enough to set up a large screen in a big room, but only a few people from our group actually went. Although most of them (being Californian) were rooting for the Rockies, we three Bostonians were very happy. I even stayed to watch the post-game coverage, hoping to catch a glimpse of my city.
      Afterwards Micki and I went snorkeling again, this time undertaking an ambitious swim to The Bommie from the end of the cement dam near the wreck. When we finally arrived we found a tasseled wobbegong! This is a type of shark with frilly white lips and lots and lots of spots. We also saw a Crown-of-Thorns sea star, which has been responsible for the mass destruction of various South Pacific reefs because its population outbreaks ingest so many coral polyps. And as we swam back we found a big lionfish!
      I woke up very early the next morning to watch the sunrise and witness the nocturnal mutton birds fly away from the island. Heron is completely dominated by pisonia grandis forest and supports a vast number of white-capped noddy terns and wedge-tailed shearwaters, or mutton birds. The noddies are beautiful with their white heads that create a grey gradient down their necks to their black bodies, while the muttons are interesting because they mate for life, furiously digging long tunnels in the sand where they place their chicks at the end. The mutton birds fly onto the island at dusk and are very active as the sun goes down, so I fell asleep to their very loud screams and cries (sounding like grumpy babies!) every night. A third bird, the buff-banded rail, stalked the dining hall and ravenously gobbled food off our plates.
      The pisonia forest also has a horrible method of reproduction. Its seeds exude a sticky resin that clings to shearwater feathers and fatally entangles them! As the birds die and decompose their bodies fertilize the seeds and thus disperse the tree. Australia is chock full of startling natural stories like this.
      Anyway, that morning I also visited my friends Willie and Xavier, who were busy conducting their Targeted Research Project. They observed the homing behavior of chitons, primitive mollusks that live within crevasses of beach rock, leaving only at night to feed. Most of them follow distinct paths and return to their little crevasses by early morning. Xavier thought their homing mechanism is due to magnetism, while Willie was testing their memory. They each pulled four all-nighters in a row and tried to sleep on the beach during the day!
      After breakfast my friends Michelle, Chelsea, Alex, and I went snorkeling from the North Beach side of the island, where the reef crest is at least twice as far as the crest on the research station side. But the long swim was definitely worth it, because the colors and formations of coral— not to the mention the fish— were spectacular. We curved all the way along the crest to the harbor, and I spent about an hour before lunch swimming in the calm high tide water at North Beach with sharks and stingrays!
      After lunch I went snorkeling with Atiqah and she spotted a purplish octopus hiding under a rock! This was definitely a fantastic way to end our time snorkeling on Heron, because that afternoon we turned in our wetsuits and flippers before a delicious goodbye dinner. As it was October 30th, Maggie decked out the dining hall in Halloween decorations. She also cooked some incredible seafood— shrimp, mussels, clams, calamari— and very yummy vegetarian patties. We all had a lot of fun that night celebrating Halloween, drinking, and dancing. Atiqah, Willie, and I stole the show dressed up as noddy birds. We also went stargazing— both off the long dock and on the beach. Hard to believe that these past two weeks on a beautiful tiny island on the Great Barrier Reef have finally come to a close!
      On the last morning I furiously packed my growing suitcase of belongings and then wandered through the pisonia forest to take some bird photos. I sat at North Beach staring at the sharks and rays before eating a yummy lunch of rice and leftover shrimp, and then went back to North Beach and walked halfway around the island to the research station. Everyone was sad to leave Heron and get back on the boat— luckily with gorgeous flat calm seas! Watching Heron fade and then disappear in the distance was like leaving Star— the beloved New England island my sister and I visit every summer— knowing that life on the mainland will never quite be the same.