Marine life of

Australia » Cairns, Qld

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Cairns is located on the east coast of Australia in the north of the province Queensland. Cairns is the main gateway to the Great Barrier Reef (Coral Sea) and most of the liveaboards start from here. Finding a reef tour operator will not be difficult and exploring the Great Barrier Reef can be done in a number of ways. The Great Barrier reef is known for it's big diversity of marine life animals.

If your time or budget is limited you can book a daytrip. Between 1 -2 hours by boat you can reach several interesting destinations. You can visit sandy cays like Michaelmas and Upolu, go to Green Island or visit nearby reefs like the Thetford reef, Moore reef, Sudbury reef or the Arlington reef. Divers, snorklers and non-swimmers can usually join the same tour.
In this part of the Coral sea / Great barrier reef the visibility is between 10-20 meters, depending on the weather and time of day. Besides different kinds of soft- and hard corals, you can expect batfish, clown fish, giant trevalies, green turtles, baby blacktip reef sharks and schools of snappers and fusiliers.

If you have more time and a bigger budget it is definitly worth if to join a liveaboard trip. It gives you the chance to visit the more remote reefs, like the Ribbon Reefs or the amazing Osprey reef.
The Osprey reef is known for its shark activity. Silky sharks, Whitetip and Blacktail reef sharks are frequently seen here. You have a fair chance to encounter Manta or Eagle rays and big schools of Barracuda and Tuna. If you are lucky you might see Silvertips, Hammerheads, Whalesharks, Whales, Dolphines or Sailfish.

Organised liveaboard trips usually range from 2 days (one night) up to 7 days (six nights). During a liveaboard trip you will visit different kinds of reefs, see more marine life species, see less people, have better visibility and have the opportunity to do night diving. It's no surprise that many people have this set to their bucket list. It will be an experience you will never forget!

 

  1. Hypselodoris obscura

    Hypselodoris obscura

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  2. Blue dragon

    Pteraeolidia ianthina

    Asther Lau Choon Siew (C) All rights reserved

  3. Big blue octopus

    Octopus cyanea

    Rich Carey (C) All rights reserved

  4. Green humphead parrotfish

    Bolbometopon muricatum

    DrTH80 (CC: BY)

  5. Daisy parrotfish

    Chlorurus sordidus

    Rich Carey (C) All rights reserved

  6. Pineapplefish

    Cleidopus gloriamaris

    Tappasan Phurisamrit (C) All rights reserved

  7. Double-ended pipefish (in multiple colours)

    Trachyrhamphus bicoarctatus

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

  8. Birdbeak burrfish

    Cyclichthys orbicularis

    Beverly Speed (C) All rights reserved

  1. Black-blotched porcupinefish

    Diodon liturosus

    asands (CC: BY SA)

  2. Blue-spotted puffer

    Arothron caeruleopunctatus

    Khoroshunova (C) All rights reserved

  3. Blackspotted puffer (whitish)

    Arothron nigropunctatus

    aquapix (C) All rights reserved

  4. Goldlined spinefoot

    Siganus guttatus

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

  5. Giant manta

    Manta birostris

    aquapix (C) All rights reserved

  6. Smoothtail mobula

    Mobula thurstoni

    Cigdem Sean Cooper (C) All rights reserved

  7. Shortfin turkeyfish

    Dendrochirus brachypterus

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  8. Weedy scorpionfish (reddish)

    Rhinopias frondosa

    Chris K Horne (C) All rights reserved

  1. Leaf scorpionfish (whitish)

    Taenianotus triacanthus

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  2. Thorny seahorse

    Hippocampus histrix

    prilfish (CC: BY)

  3. Short dragonfish

    Eurypegasus draconis

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  4. Oceanic whitetip shark

    Carcharhinus longimanus

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  5. Spotted wobbegong

    Orectolobus maculatus

    Joel Bauchat Grant (C) All rights reserved

  6. Blue shark

    Prionace glauca

    Fiona Ayerst (C) All rights reserved

  7. Whale shark

    Rhincodon typus

    Andrea Izzotti (C) All rights reserved

  8. Harlequin shrimp

    Hymenocera picta

    Stephen Childs (CC: BY)

  1. Scarlet cleaner shrimp

    Lysmata amboinensis

    altug (C) All rights reserved

  2. Banded coral shrimp

    Stenopus hispidus

    Tiago Sa Brito (C) All rights reserved

  3. Sexy shrimp

    Thor amboinensis

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

  4. Napoleon snake eel

    Ophichthus bonaparti

    HNC Photo (C) All rights reserved

  5. Checkered snapper

    Lutjanus decussatus

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  6. Black and white snapper (adult)

    Macolor niger

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  7. Sabre squirrelfish

    Sargocentron spiniferum

    Levent Konuk (C) All rights reserved

  8. Blue-spotted stingray

    Neotrygon kuhlii

    e2dam (C) All rights reserved

General tags:
Marine life, Fish, Fishcard, Fishslate, Scuba diving, Snorkeling, Underwaterphotography, Uwphotography, Reeflife, MyFishGallery.

Marine species tags:
Anemonefish, Angelfish, Barracuda, Batfish, Blenny, Boxfish, Butterflyfish, Cardinalfish, Clownfish, Crab, Cuttlefish, Eagle ray, Frogfish, Lizardfish, Manta ray, Moray eel, Nudibranch, Octopus, Parrotfish, Porcupinefish, Pufferfish, Scorpionfish, Seahorse, Shark, Shrimp, Snake eel, Snapper, Squirrelfish, Stingray, Trevally, Triggerfish, Turtle, Unicornfish, Whale, Wrasse.

Marine life tags:
Big blue octopus, Blackspotted puffer, Blue shark, Bluespotted stingray, Common dolphinfish, Golden trevally, Great barracuda, Green turtle, Harlequin sweetlips, Hawksbill sea turtle, Humpback whale, Humphead parrotfish, Leaf scorpionfish, Malabar grouper, Mandarin dragonet, Pharaoh cuttlefish, Ribbon moray, Scribbled filefish, Snowflake moray, Spotted wobbegong, Starry moray, Straited frogfish, Thorny seahorse, Tital triggerfish, Weedy scorpionfish, Whale shark, White shark, Yellow boxfish.

Locationtags:
Cairns, Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Diving Cairns, Diving Coral Sea, Diving Great Barrier Reef, Diving Australia, Marine life Cairns, Marine life Coral Sea, Marine life Great Barrier Reef, Marine life Australia, Diving Cairns, Diving Coral Sea, Diving Great Barrier Reef, Diving Australia, Snorkeling Cairns, Liveaboard, Liveaboard Cairns, Liveaboard Great Barrier Reef, Liveaboard Coral Sea, Liveaboard Australia, Snokeling Coral Sea, Snorkeling Great Barrier Reef, Snokeling Australia, Holiday Cairns, Holiday Australia.