It has been an extraordinary turtle nesting season with a very busy year for Green Turtles. Throughout the 2013/14 season there were a total of 80 confirmed turtle nests, comprising of 74 green and 6 loggerhead. The total track count for the season was 2,066 green turtle tracks and 140 loggerheads turtle tracks. The busiest month for turtle action was January. The season has now drawn to a close but we are in the middle of our peak manta ray and humpback whale seasons.

Photo: Emma Norgren

The Whale season has officially kicked off with a number of sightings over the past few weeks.

The annual Humpback Whale migration usually takes place during the Antarctic winter, when whales head north along Australia’s eastern coastline. This is usually in response to the cold conditions in the sea, causing them to escape to warmer waters for feeding and breeding.

Visitors to Lady Elliot Island may be fortunate enough to see the whales during the scenic flight, from the glass bottom boat, blowing and breaching from the shore or hearing their whale song while snorkelling or diving off the Island.

There are a wide range of research and learning options for student and educational groups on Lady Elliot Island.

There's a steady stream of lectures, qualified staff ready to answer questions and excellent presentation facilities in the Reef Education Centre. And of course, all of the resource material - there are now dozens of fact sheets, educational books and DVD's available.

The Island will soon have its own hydrophone, complete with speakers, and the ability to record marine noise. It will be a great way to introduce guests and students to the wonderful world of decibels, marine animal communication, fish choruses and echo location.

Geocaching is another exciting option available. Because of the strong links between climate change and the Island's formation, the past can provide valuable insights to the Island's future. It's a topic that could easily keep students busy for a whole day, hunting fossils, exploring the concentric shingle ridges, looking at the different kinds of rock and cementing processes on the Island. Take a look at Lady Elliot Island's Earthcache kindly created by Jeffrey Mahn here.

For further information or enquiries regarding education groups please contact our Groups Department at [email protected]

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort has a number of upgraded facilities including a kitchen and dining room overhaul with new carpet, lighting, bain maries and state of the art heating elements alongside new kitchen equipment.

The Gift Shop and Reception area has seen a 50% space increase and a dry walkway put in place. Over the coming months, there will be disabled access for this area. New roofing has been applied to the Dive Shop and Reception areas.

The shower and toilet block for Eco Cabin guests has also had a complete makeover.

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort has teamed up with Southern Cross University to investigate the Island’s aquifer, which we believe plays an important role in supporting the Island’s vegetation and supporting the abundant marine life in the waters around the Island. To better understand the Lady Elliot Island aquifer we have managed to drill six boreholes around the island, finding the aquifer at a depth of 3 to 4m.

We are now planning a lot of follow-on work including a geophysical survey of the island to map out the groundwater resource, studies using naturally occurring groundwater tracers (e.g. radon) to better understand the drip-feed processes, nitrogen isotope studies to quantify the nutrient cycle and we’d also like to develop a computer model of the aquifer that will help us to understand how it responds to tides and to recharge by rainfall. How much fun is this going to be?

Our ongoing commitment to revegetating the Island continues as work is in place to remove all Lantana, one of Australia's most dibilitating invasive weeds, from the Island and replace it with native Pisonia Trees.

Lady Elliot Island is working closely with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to ensure a clear strategy is in place to bring the native vegetation back as close as possible to the original state it was in prior to European Settlement.

The Island has now finalised the installation of an additional 125 solar panels to increase our renewable solar power to 75kWs. This brings the total amount of panels on the Island to 313. This will bring us even closer to our ultimate goal of being 100% renewable energy powered.

You may remember the wonderful talent of Mark Sheriff and Mick McNamara who did an amazing job last year restoring the lighthouse and turning the historical generator shed into a museum highlighting the history of the Lighthouse Keepers. They have been back to do even more work to the lighthouse including glazing the windows and repainting the exterior. We think it's never looked better!
 

Dreaming of your next holiday to Lady Elliot Island? Package prices start from as little as $545pp. Take a look at our range of packages including:

1 Night - Escape Package

2 Nights - Dream. Explore. Discover.

5 Nights - Stay 5 Pay 4

7 Nights - Hottest Diving on the Great Barrier Reef

We also offer the following packages in conjunction with Fraser Island and Kingfisher Bay Resort:

3 Nights - Lady Elliot Island & Kingfisher Bay Resort

4 Nights - Reef and Rainforest

4 Nights - Lady Elliot Island and Explore Fraser Island

Lady Elliot Island has formed a new partnership with Atkinson’s Specialist Shuttles. Atkinson’s is a 'Door to Door' service for guests from Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast that wish to be transferred to Hervey Bay.

Their service operates 7 days a week and is based on the needs and requirements of each individual client. Their prices are more than reasonable and they offer a comfortable, efficient and professional service.

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort has received a 2014 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award.

The accolade, which honors hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews on TripAdvisor and is extended to qualifying businesses worldwide. Establishments awarded the Certificate of Excellence are located all over the world and represent the upper echelon of businesses listed on the website.

When selecting Certificate of Excellence winners, businesses must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five. Additional criteria include a business’ tenure and popularity ranking on the site.

We would like to thank all of our past guests who took the time to complete a review.

Our last photo competition was very successful with over 28 entries. We had some fantastic images that encompassed the category of ‘only natural’.

‘Only Natural’ focused on wildlife, plant life, or anything natural that have been found on Lady Elliot Island.

Congratulations to the winner, Nicola Simpson!

The July Photo Competition is now open with the category being 'Whatever' ie, any photo taken on Lady Elliot Island. Email your photos by the 21st July 2014 to [email protected]

Guidelines:

1. One entry per person, per category, per month
2. Short description about the photo, when it was taken and name of the photographer
3. Photos must have been taken at Lady Elliot Island
4. The photo with the most likes wins, so get your friends and family to vote for your photo!
5. Please be aware that the photos will be displayed on the Facebook page and the winning photos will be uploaded onto our Website (with the appropriate credentials per photo)
6. Photos must be uploaded one week before the end of the month (We will keep you updated on Facebook); there will then be one week of public voting until the last day of the month. The winner will be announced within the week on Facebook

By entering the competition you give permission for your photos to be displayed on Social Media sites, the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort Website and promotional and marketing purposes.