We arrived at Norman Reef and only just managed to get one dive on the backreef before a gale began that continued for four days. We sat it out, waiting to choose our moment to return to Cairns. The trade winds are almost vicious here at times, empowered as high pressure systems move across the southern continent.

a fishing boat pounds through the gale at Norman Reef

Our next expedition out of Cairns was to Irene Reef. We had intended to arrive at the famous Ribbons Reefs where the annual sightings of minke whales had already been reported in Cairns but Irene Reef looked inviting, just to the south of our destination and we stopped for some exploratory diving. The minke whales came to us! Two of them arrived at the anchored Heraclitus and circled us for two glorious hours.

adult and juvenile minke whales circle us at Irene Reef

We moved northwards towards our second study site, Lizard Island. This time we returned to the open sea, departing through the Great Barrier Reef at Trinity Pass and returning inside through Cook’s Passage, where Captain Cook entered. Just a few miles inside the pass, with Lizard Island visible ahead of us, the minke whales appeared again. This time, we all took our turns to enter the water and watch them in their own element. They stayed with us for hours – until finally we had to tear ourselves away in order to make it to an anchorage before nightfall. It was the most spectacular cetacean encounter we have had on the Heraclitus – a true ocean gift. Our cetacean attraction sustained itself almost until we dropped our anchor - one of the minke whales followed us for several miles, then a group of spinner dolphins torpedoed around our bow for a few minutes after which an Indo Pacific humpback dolphin surfed past our portside! Meanwhile a rainbow lit up the darkening sky.

We began our study in Mermaid's Cove where the winds couldn't reach us! Here we found an interesting reef system which we were informed had been affected by a crown of thorns infestation five or six years ago. We still found a few crown of thorns individuals and traces of their damage to the reef but overall, the reef system was in good health and had some particularly stunning areas. For full details of our study, click here.

some of the beautiful scenes in Mermaid's Cove, Lizard Island

and a crown of thorns feeding on Porites and Diploastrea colonies simultaneously

Lizard Island is quite an incredible land formation with many different ecosystems from mangrove to lagoon to hilltop forest in a very small amount of space. We all made a trek to 'Cook's Look' to remind ourselves that we are currently sailing in the wake of the ghost of the famous sea-captain. The views down to the Ribbon Reefs stretching out north and south were a shift in perspective from our sea level vantage point.

After completing our study at Lizard Island, we began to venture farther afield, to the outer reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. We made exploratory dives at many of the backreefs and channels leading to the wide Pacific Ocean. We spent a week at One Mile Pass and during that time had daily encounters with the dwarf minke whales. As we made our way further south, along the Ribbon Reefs, we found coral gardens unlike anything we have seen before - perfectly landscaped fields of Acropora, branching Porites, enormous boulders, as if carefully planted to a master design. Full details of our diving expedition are on our Dive Log pages.

****** INSERT HYPERLINK

The minke whale encounters continued until we reached Ribbon Reef number 3. Here, instead, we met Qamar Schuyler who sailed with Heraclitus for several years and was the Scientific Coordinator. She was on a visit from Saipan and we couldn't believe our ears when she came over the VHF radio on a Sunday morning, calling for anyone that might remember her! As Heraclitus says, 'expect the unexpected'.

our favourite minke whale who we first sighted at Ribbon Reef #10 - he reappeared the next day 14 miles further south