25 Swimming with Manta Rays, Turtles, Dugongs, Whales, Sharks, Coral and Fish in Coral Bay. What a day!

Having the week before shared the ocean with magnificent Whale Sharks, we thought nothing could come close to the thrill.
How wrong we were.  The amount of fish, corals, colours and grace of the Manta Rays was amazing, all very much complimented by amazing professional photos which showed the true colours so much more than the previous blog.

Aquatic ballet of massive ballerinas of the sea. 

As per our previous voyage, we travelled on a boat porpoise built for the job, allowing quick travel and ease of offloading and reloading swimmers.

Waves breaking over the reef, our boat, and the wind having blown the seagull off the bollard. 

Our photographer dressed ready for a formal. 

The township, or shiptown of Coral Bay.
One of the three wind powered generators is lying on the ground.  They are designed to be dropped in event of a cyclone.
The palm trees are receiving a battering from the wind.  They also drop, but not intentionally.

Dressed for the occasion as we speed out to the drop zone.
The excitement is hard to contain.   

 Our snorkelling was complemented by some air breathing mammals, including the world's only vegetarian sea mammal, the Dugong, along with a Humpback Whale Mum and its young; together with dolphins and turtles.

A  Dugong, or sea cow in the area grazing on the sea grass.

10% of the total number of Dugongs in the world live in the Ningaloo Reef.
As mentioned in our previous blog Ningaloo Reef is Australia's biggest fringe reef.

Endangered and tasting like chicken. 

Humpback whale sharing the reef area. 

The young one learning synchronized swimming.  

Meanwhile, ready for disembarkation.

Prepared to drop off the stern.
Swim caps stop the head from becoming burnt. 

In the water and off to see the sights. 

We were not alone though!
A quick look around revealed how healthy the reef system is.

 What you looking at??
Fish naturally know about the perils of too much sun; hence sought the shade of our boat at every chance. 

Not the place to suffer from ichthyophobia.

Carrol, Don and friends. 

Looking more like oil colours than water colours.
 The clarity of the water once more due to lack of rainfall runoff from the desert. 

Corals of all sizes and shapes. 

Varying depths of coral, some breaking the surface. 

As we swam we spotted a ray.

A Bluespotted Ribbontailed Ray. 

We were fortunate enough to see and swim with turtles.  At one location, a bale of four of these wonderful creatures resting on the floor of the reef.  They were all so brilliantly peaceful, but swam with such a grace, speed and ease.

Akin to flying through the water. 

Fish eye view of Don, Carrol and the turtle.
Don was watching underwater. 

Meanwhile this is the view Carrol had swimming alongside. 

Diving down for a rest. 

Resting on soft sand. 

More uncomfortable than sand but the coral prevents slipping away with tide and current.

Resting on an amalgam of sand and coral.
Some degree of comfort and security. 

Don with snorkel above, Carrol alongside and turtle below.

Manta Rays were found by the spotter plane, then advised our boat of their location and direction of travel, whereupon we dropped into the water and waited for them to pass us by.
The Manta Rays literally flew past under us with all the grace and style of slow soaring ballerinas.
Despite the slow beating of their wings, their speed through the water was far too quick for the swimmers, hence each time we saw them only for short periods of time before they disappeared from view.
The dancing is part of luring a mate, with the female leading the way, and the male following suit.

Mantas are black on top, white underneath highlighting the dance. 

The four metre wing span is difficult to be appreciated without anything to give sense of scale.  

Marine Batman. 

Beautiful flexibility. 

And the dance continues.

We finished our swims with the Manta Rays and went searching for other life and found from above the water a 4m Tiger Shark enjoying a fishing expedition.
We were asked if we wished to swim with the shark, to which a few opted for the chance.
We took the view that staying out the water at that time would be the best long term option for our holiday and life.

A great shot of the Tiger Shark and our boat.
This day we were swimming in Ningaloo Reef was the same day as that of the 2nd shark attack on consecutive days in the Barrier Reef. 

Tiger stripes.

We undertook a snorkel further out in a different area of the reef, swimming out through mind blowing coral and fish.

Carrol and Don swimming near Bikini Atoll.
Fortunately, Nuclear testing ceased in 1954. 

We then swam through a narrow shallow passage from the reef to the open ocean.  The passage experienced a change of direction in and out the reef every five minutes or so.
It was impossible to swim through against the flow, and required patiently waiting for the flow to turn favourable, then swimming hard to get through before it changed again.

When on the outside of the reef, we swam to an area known as a "shark cleaning station" where we encountered a school of about five 1.5m grey reef sharks down below.  A cleaning station is a neutral zone where attacks don't take place.  Hidden in the cabbage coral are cleaning-wrasse.  They wriggle their way out of the skeleton structure of the cabbage coral.  Slowly and stealthily the sharks glide upward over the scrolled coral patch with opened mouths...inviting the cleaning-wrasse to pick off scraps of bacteria and parasites from their teeth, gills and body. 

Shark teeth cleaning station.
The area is a neutral zone for cleaning. 

Powering through the channel back inside the reef.
Don wears a green rope belt for towing assistance of Carrol when the going gets hard.
Meanwhile Carrol streamlines and kicks.  

Turtles however always make it look easy. 

Imitating a turtle.
Just have to master holding the breath longer.  

Finally it was time to head back to shore after an incredible day on and in the water.
We were so grateful to Alex Kydd of Coral Bay who took all the phenomenal underwater photos.

Back to the boat away from the reef, and Carrol can be seen stepping off fish onto the boat ladder.
This was the first time Carrol had stepped on the scales since leaving home.  It was quite a shock!

A truly memorable day with some unforgettable experiences and challenges.
Time to head off south.

Happy voyaging.
Cheers, Don and Carrol.