Judith Wright, recalling a trip to Lady Elliot over 30 years ago, wrote "my inner eye was flooded with those marvelous blues and greens of unpolluted water, and the coral pools at low tide held millions of little fishes, anemones, stars, urchins...(we would) look down the crags of coral into valleys and down walls where dim, many-coloured seaweeds and branching growths of coral, harboured thousands of other organisms and shoals of larger fish, squid, octopus, manta rays and sharks swam. Farther out, whales still blew great fountains on the horizon, dolphins somersaulted and undulated in cheerful processions, and everywhere birds hunted the skies..."
Exploring the Island
Lady Elliot covers about 40 ha - small enough to walk around in 45
minutes. Some features of interest are marked on the map - can you find
them? Wander slowly around the beach, watching seabirds and waders
hunting for food. The rougher terrain of the interior is best covered in the
cooler times of day.
How Lady Elliot Formed
Lady Elliot Reef is a small circular platform reef, whose lagoon is almost
filled in with sand. The living coral you can see is growing over the
remains of ancient reefs which grew and died with changing sea levels for
perhaps 2 million years. The current phase of reef growth has been
continuing for about 9500 years. It is thought Lady Elliot Reef reached the
surface nearly 5000 years ago, when sea level may have been slightly
higher than it is now.
Lady Elliot Island is a coral cay, and has never been connected to the
mainland. It formed as broken fragments of coral and clamshells, known
as shingle, were tossed up by storms onto one part of the reef. The
shingle concentrated into a series of roughly concentric ridges. The older,
inner ridges, formed about 3700 years ago, rise up to 4 m high. The
shingles here has chemically reacted with an enormous quantity of bird
droppings, to form a phosphate cement known as cay rock. The outer,
younger ridges are unconsolidated shingle, and the beach has areas of
sand, shingle and gravel.
The effects of storm waves can be seen on the beach in front of the resort and around the northern part of the island. Note the steep rise of the shingle deposited here and then walk inland and see if you can find remnants of other ridges, now eroded. Birds roost and nest on many of these eroded ridges, so in summer this area should be examined only from a distance, through binoculars.
Some sand exposed to seawater has turned into a limestone known as a beach rock, which outcrops on the cay's north-east and south-east shores. The reddish cay rock can also be seen. These outcrops indicate the cay is eroding and shifting position.
Exploring the Reef
Compared to other reefs in the region, Lady Elliot is small, isolated and
close to the edge of the continental shelf. The water is clear, though
turbulent in bad weather, and reef life is rich with many large fish.
Because the reef is small, even the windward side of the reef can be
visited easily by boat during good weather.
Diving and snorkeling: At mid to high tides, snorkeling over the reef flat can be interesting and a good way to learn and gain confidence. At low tide, only small shallow pools remain on the reef flat, but snorkelers and divers can, with care, enjoy the reef slope. Seek local advice on safety before setting out. In some areas boat supports is essential.
The western, lee side of the reef is quite unusual. The reef crest is within 50 metres of the beach and erosion has exposed a double crest, mostly broken but intact in a number of places. The shallow, protected reef in this area offers good snorkeling and scuba diving, best on a rising tide or at slack water. The reef slope drops to about 6-8 m and then shelves gradually seaward to a maximum of 20 m. The 'Arches' area is the safest and easiest section of the reef for snorkeling. Further north and south, currents can be strong at times.
Beyond the reef slope is a scattered bommie field where beautiful underwater scenery and occasional shipwrecks are separated by expanses of sand. Diving on the windward side of the reef is very different and good locations have been identified by resort diving staff. The windward reef is particularly rich with plate corals across a broad reef slope. Sites such as the 'Blowhole' provide exceptional diving.
Reefwalking: The small reef flat at Lady Elliot is a rewarding place for reefwalking. The reef rim furthest from the cay is about 20 minutes' walk but deeper areas close to the resort beach allow easy observation of many species of coral and other reef animals and plants. Please take extra care here, as this small reef can easily be damaged. Try to walk only on shingle or sand, not on living coral, and be sure to replace anything you move.
Reefwalking is best at low tide, and the most living coral can be seen on the windward side of the cay, particularly to the south-east. Round 'microatolls' of corals including daylight coral and honeycomb coral are an interesting feature, and many beautifully coloured clams can be seen. Sea cucumbers are common in the sandy areas.
The reef crest, a slightly elevated cement pavement strewn with boulders, lies at the outside of the reef flat. Some parts are covered with a 'turf' of algae. Bright sponges, crabs and other animals can be seen under boulders. Small pools on the northern reef crest contain sea urchins and large sea anemones sheltering clownfish.
Most corals and many other animals feed only at night. Examine an area of coral close to the beach during the day, then visit the same area with a torch at night and note the differences.
Island Vegetation
From the tree-planting programs which began over 20 years ago, a forest
of tall coastal sheoaks has grown to cover much of the western half of
Lady Elliot. Shelter given by these trees has had a profound effect on the
small remnant stands of pisonia trees, previously windswept and salt-
stressed, but now growing luxuriantly. Elsewhere the island is covered by
a rich variety of native and introduced shrubs, herbs and grasses.
What was the vegetation like before the guano miners cleared it? Nobody knows in detail, but it was probably similar to that found on the Bunker islands to the north. On Lady Musgrave Island, for example, a low open forest of trees and shrubs such as coastal sheok, octopus bush, and Cardwell cabbage grows, with pisonia forest in the sheltered central and north-western sections.
Island animals
Lady Elliot Island, with its large open areas, is important for birds which
nest and roost on the ground. In summer, hundreds of pairs of crested
terns lay their eggs in the open, mostly on short grass or herbs. Bridled
terns prefer to nest under shrubs or rocks, or in crevices. Silver gulls
nest under small shrubs. Little and black-naped terns may be seen on the
island along with the spectacular brown boobies and lesser frigate-birds.
A small colony of red-tailed tropic birds now nest on Lady Elliot.
Wedge-tailed shearwaters, which nest in burrows and need firm sand, are found near the remnant pisonia stand in the resort and where sand fill has been used. Their numbers are much lower than on the sandy islands to the north. A few black noddies nest in the pisonias and sheoaks, and many common noddies nest on the ground.
You may see forest birds such as the rose-crowned fruit-dove, which sometimes visit the island, especially during winter southerly and westerly winds. Waders, including turnstones, godwits, oyster-catchers, dotterels and plovers feed on the beaches and rocky shores, while the graceful reef egret stalks the reef flat at low tide. Buff-banded rails and silvereyes live and breed on Lady Elliot, as does a naturalised population of European sparrows.
Green and loggerhead turtles nest on the island from late October to mid- February. With care you can watch their egg-laying ritual on the south- east nd north-east beaches. Throughout the year these fascinating reptiles are a comon sight for divers on the reef.
In winter and early spring you can see the great humpback whales on their migration from Antarctica to calve in the warmer waters of the Great Barrier Reef.
For further information contact:
Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service
Roseberry Street
PO Box 315
Gladstone Qld 4680
(079) 760766