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. Convict surgeonfish

    Acanthurus triostegus

    nitrogenic.com (C) All rights reserved

  2. Pigmy sweeper

    Parapriacanthus ransonneti

    Ethan Daniels (C) All rights reserved

  3. Clown triggerfish

    Balistoides conspicillum

    NOAA Photo Library (CC: BY)

  4. Titan triggerfish

    Balistoides viridescens

    ligio (C) All rights reserved

  5. Wedge-tail triggerfish

    Rhinecanthus rectangulus

    Darren J. Bradley (C) All rights reserved

  6. Green sea turtle

    Chelonia mydas

    Kjersti Joergensen (C) All rights reserved

  7. Hawksbill sea turtle

    Eretmochelys imbricata

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  8. Bignose unicornfish (subadult)

    Naso vlamingii

    brian.gratwicke (CC: BY)

  1. Humpback whale

    Megaptera novaeangliae

    Ethan Daniels (C) All rights reserved

  2. Redbreasted wrasse

    Cheilinus fasciatus

    Vlad61 (C) All rights reserved

  3. Humphead wrasse (adult)

    Cheilinus undulatus

    Krzysztof Odziomek (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.