Exploring Ningaloo Reef

When our journey around Australia was in the making, Ningaloo Reef was top of our both our lists. Home of the whaleshark, migrating humpbacks, turtles and manta-rays, Ningaloo could easily be described as Australia’s capital for marine megafauna.

But on the highway to Ningaloo, it was a tiny little creature that first caught our eye. In the centre of the lane, with cars passing over it, sat a Thorny Devil. Luckily we managed to re-locate the little Devil to safety before tragedy struck. What an amazing creature! Despite its thorny armour, and devil-horns, it had the sweetest little face.

 

When we arrived in Exmouth, even just standing on the shore, we could spot pods of humpback whales traveling along the coast, so we took the boat out to get a better view of the action. Mothers with their calves, pods of adults, and single whales were all on the move along this busy humpback-highway. One lone adult made its presence clear by breaching right in front of our boat – a wonderful welcome to Ningaloo!

 

Whilst here, we decided to SCUBA dive the famous Exmouth Navy Pier, which is tipped as one of the best dives in Australia. In all our years of years of diving, we have rarely seen so many enormous fish together in one space. When I say enormous, I mean some of them (the groupers) were almost twice my size. After descending through clear blue water and thick schools of trevally, we entered the darker, murkier water at the base of the pier. Here we sat for ages and watched grey nurse sharks cruising around the pylons. It was one of those dives that you don’t want to end.

We also had the pleasure of joining Live Ningaloo for a whaleshark swim. Being eye to eye with a whaleshark was such a calm and serene experience, despite it being the biggest fish in the ocean. As the shark glided through the water, it showed no concern about us. It’s pace was slow enough for us to swim alongside, and stare in awe at its size and intricate patterns.

Ningaloo has many hidden gems. During a morning beach-walk, in an area sign-posted as a “turtle resting area”, we found that the turtles were doing more than resting. There were hundreds of green turtles swimming around in the shallows, some couples in a mating embrace, and some females with two or three males piling on! Occasionally an exhausted turtle would haul itself onto the beach to rest, before going back into the chaos.

Back on solid ground, there was no shortage of iconic Australian wildlife. The resident emus wander the streets, frequently stopping traffic, and a boat tour of Yardie Creek to spot the black-footed rock-wallabies is almost too much cuteness to handle.

In our short time here, we have hardly scratched the surface of what Ningaloo has to offer. There is so much to see here that we hope to be back soon for Ningaloo “part two”.

Photos by Scott Portelli & Rosie Leaney using Olympus AU & NZ OMD cameras.