Second time this week!!! Our "Ocean Free Sail to Great Barrier Reef & Green Island" guests treated to a dolphin welcome and escortπ!!
Have you ever seen dolphins gliding alongside our Ocean Free's bow on the Great Barrier Reef in the past?? LET US KNOW!!
Theyβre not just playing β dolphins actually use the wave created by the boatβs movement to conserve energy, effortlessly "surfing" π ππ. It's a smart way to travel faster and bond with their pod ππ!
Plus (and we at Ocean Free are strong advocates for this) - dolphins are naturally curious and social, we believe they are enjoying a front-row view of their "Ocean Free" GBR mates!!
Come out on with us on Ocean Free and keep an eye outβthey might just join us again for the ride! Please ensure you give them a big smile back β that will definitely entice them back again for our next guests!! π¬π
Book now www.oceanfree.com.au
@tropicalnorthqueensland @australia @Great Barrier Reef Marine Park @queenlsand #visitqueensland #masterreefguide
#thisisqueensland #greatbarrierreef #lovethereef #masterreefguides
#snorkelgreatbarrierreef #eyeonthereef #greenisland
#DolphinMagic #GreatBarrierReef #BowRiding #SailingWithDolphins
Ocean Freedom's 200 ms makeover
WEEKLY WONDERS of OCEAN FREE & OCEAN FREEDOM!
The 200 ms makeover!!! π§π€π
AND the prize goes to the octopus, cuttlefish and the squid! ππ₯π
These very clever absolute MASTERS of DISGUISE can change their skin's colour, brightness, contrast and pattern as fast as a human eye blink β¦PRETTY IMPRESSIVE we feel. π€©
This little clip is of a very cute baby squid showing off his βmooring ropeβ and βblue sea β βeye blinkβ changeover. Quite a little show off really but always wins our hearts!! π
This clip was taken off the Ocean Freedom mooring line at Upolu Reef on the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
COME AND TAKE ON OUR OCEAN FREE & OCEAN FREEDOM CHALLENGE AND LET US KNOW WHEN YOU SEE OUR "WEEKLY WONDERS" PERFORM!!
With love from your Ocean Free & Ocean Freedom family ###
@tropicalnorthqueensland @australia @Great Barrier Reef Marine Park @queenlsand #visitqueensland
#thisisqueensland #greatbarrierreef #lovethereef #masterreefguides
#snorkelgreatbarrierreef #eyeonthereef #serenityonthereef#oceanfreeoceanfreedomweeklywonders #squid #babysquid
Hammerhead cruising peacefully on the Great Barrier Reef off Ocean Freedom π
The "disco" Cassiopeia!
WEEKLY WONDERS of OCEAN FREE & OCEAN FREEDOM!
CASSIOPEIA β commonly known as βupside down jellyfishβ! π
By lying upside-down, the Cassiopeia exposes its algae (living inside its tissues!) to the sun allowing the algae to photosynthesise and the Cassiopeia to get enough nutrition from the by-products of this process to sustain itself β pretty clever friendship we think π€π€ It also captures zooplankton for additional growth.
This beautiful little one was showing off its swimming moves β using contractions of their bell to move through the water - mesmerising π€©π€©!!!
Apparently, scientists have uncovered evidence that jellyfish have been living in our Oceans for at least 500 million years - now thatβs a rather impressive statistic!
Music by: MiniMeGOODRemix by Skrxlla Artlist
COME AND TAKE ON OUR OCEAN FREE & OCEAN FREEDOM CHALLENGE AND LET US KNOW WHEN YOU SEE OUR "WEEKLY WONDERS" PERFORM!!
With love from your Ocean Free & Ocean Freedom family ###
@tropicalnorthqueensland @australia @Great Barrier Reef Marine Park #visitqueensland
#thisisqueensland #greatbarrierreef @australia #lovethereef #masterreefguides
#snorkelgreatbarrierreef #eyeonthereef #serenityonthereef#oceanfreeoceanfreedomweeklywonders
#cassiopeia #jellyfish
The Dance of the Pipefish on Ocean Free
WEEKLY WONDERS of OCEAN FREE & OCEAN FREEDOM!
Banded Pipefish, Corythoichthys amplexus ππ
These pipefish are monogamous & maintain territories. We all think they are pretty cute - take a close lookπ§ at their eyes and long snout for catching small prey. You will need to look closely to find these beautiful creatures as they are small and well camouflaged - but like seeing your first nudibranch - once recognised much more easily seen again!
This clip was taken by Dave last Saturday. He first recalls seeing pipefish here in 1997 when he first started to work on Ocean Free. Taryn also reports seeing her first ever pipe fish on exactly the same bommie when working on the boat from 1994. Dave reckons they could be descendants of those earlier days - what do our Master Reef Guides and others believe..... pretty amazing if we have had descendants of the same "family" of pipefish as long as we have had the "Ocean Free & Ocean Freedom" family and prior!!
Whilst we have seen these pipefish over the years on this bommie at Green Island - who has seen them at our Upolu site? π€π€ Let us know! π
music: Call of the Winds LASYA
COME AND TAKE ON OUR OCEAN FREE & OCEAN FREEDOM CHALLENGE AND LET US KNOW WHEN YOU SEE OUR "WEEKLY WONDERS" PERFORM!!
With love from your Ocean Free & Ocean Freedom family ###
@tropicalnorthqueensland @australia @Great Barrier Reef Marine Park #visitqueensland
#thisisqueensland #greatbarrierreef @australia #lovethereef #masterreefguides
#snorkelgreatbarrierreef #eyeonthereef #serenityonthereef#oceanfreeoceanfreedomweeklywonders
Ocean Free & Ocean Freedom have their "Eyes on the Reef"!
Ocean Free & Ocean Freedom have successfully continued to work with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and completed their second βTourism Reef Protection Initiativeβ β funded by the Australian Government.
This extremely successful initiative enables us, as a High Standard Tourism Reef Operator, to continue a higher level of reef stewardship on our longstanding and recently acquired permitted reef sites.
This initiative has also enabled us to collect valuable survey and photo evidence in "real time", post cyclone and during and beyond post environmental stress periods, across different Tourism sites along the whole of the Great Barrier Reef for better analysis of these events including level and timing of recovery (over months and years) .
This data is of critical significance as it is collected underwater allowing a more comprehensive and accurate depiction of reef health across the Great Barrier Reef tourism sites and enables scientists to understand and critically analyse "in depth" π this amazing and resilient World Heritage icon! ππ³π π
Ocean Free & Ocean Freedom want to thank the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the Reef Protection Initiative for these opportunities to assist in gathering the very valuable "real time" underwater data π
The Tourism Reef Protection Initiative is funded by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority as part of the Australian Governmentβs Reef Protection package
#reefprotectioninitiative #eyeonthereef
#gbrmarinepark #greatbarrierreef @GreatBarrierReefMarinePark
#masterreefguides #seethereef #lovethereef #protectthereef #thisisqueensland #seeaustralia #qldparks #bereefsmart #coralreef #reef
A very special day. Our very own Anna performing The Last Post on board Ocean Freedom in remembrance of our ANZACβs. Thank you for this special moment Anna!
