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August 2004 Damon Ramsey was hired as... Print E-mail

Guest Lecturer, Coral Princess Cruises, Kimberly trip.

Coral Princess
Coral Princess
For this trip we had twice as much fun as usual because there were two of many staff, two lecturers, two engineers (Mick and Dave) and two Captains (Greg and James). I gave lectures on tropical seabirds, Australian mammals and coral reef invertebrates and local Kimberly expert, (and former manager of CALM), Chris (the legend) Done (cousin of Ken) gave lectures on plants, rock art and geology. Conditions were perfect and very clear for our reef walk on the shallows at the always amazing Montgomery reef.





Crocodile
Crocodile
It was also a fantastic trip for birds, with the wildlife spotting cruises providing views of chestnut rails, magpie robins and of course crocodiles (although not at night!). We visited King Cascade (and found a few species of fish, the ?stumpy mullet? anyone?).






Fishing
Fishing
We also went out and tried several fishing expeditions. We suspect we put more fish into the ocean with our bait than we actually pulled out, although the first trip was wildly successful with a massive Morwong pulled out (but thrown back in after Chef Pete said ?nah, too small!?).








We also visited an island that may eventually be named Sterna island. Unfortunately, there was no evidence of current bird breeding on the island in contrast to earlier that year. Some wags suggested we better call it ?dead bird island?, although the 3 of us biologists on board found it interesting due to the sheer expanse of destruction: dead birds and dozens of eggs everywhere (and one bird field guide!). We also visited the always interesting Bare Sand Island and visiting NTU (CDU) biologist Mick Guinea gave us a talk on sea turtles. We counted eggs in nests and released 3 cute little hatchlings later that night. Another successful trip?.
 
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