Under the sea by Emma

On Friday we went to the Great Barrier Reef to go snorkelling. We got on the boat early in the morning.

Just before we arrived at the first site, we got our snorkelling kit on. When I was ready, I jumped straight in.

It was the most amazing sight. The coral was outstanding, and the water was crystal clear.

This site was called turtle bay, as it is common to see turtles there. We saw one that was a metre long, and had a rock hard shell. Apparently this was quite a small one!! I spotted a sting ray down near the bottom, and when I told our marine biologist, Alisha, she dived down to take a picture. Another member of staff called Tim showed us the cousin of nemo, a pink clownfish. He touched the anemone with his gloved hand (the anemone can sting) and they swam out. Then we saw a white tipped reef shark lurking on the ocean floor. Alisha had already told us that if we were lucky enough to see any sharks, they would not be interested in us, so not to be scared. Tim dived down to make it move, and sure enough it came no where near us, and stayed at the bottom. After an hour of snorkelling, it was time to go to the next site. Here I saw a giant clam (by giant, I mean giant). It had loads of green eyes around the top; although they aren't proper eyes, they are more like sensors. Alisha showed us how to make it close, by waving a hand over the top of the sensors. I also saw lots of blue starfish, and Alisha dived down to pick one up and let us hold it. The coral at the last site was the most beautiful. It is called opal reef and is thirty nautical miles from the coast. I spotted millions of sea cucumbers, and pointed them out to Alisha. Once again she went to get one for me to hold; it felt amazing! Just before we were due to go back on the boat, we saw another giant clam. I dived down and made it close, while my dad took a picture. (I hope the pictures turn out ok; we had a special disposable underwater camera, and need to take it to get them developed.) On the way back I looked out at the ocean, and before I knew it we were back in Port Douglas.

I had the most amazing day!