Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort Newsletter February 2019

RE-GREENING | MASTER REEF GUIDES | TURTLE SEASON | GREAT EIGHT | PACKAGES

LEI’s Re-Greening Program

The goal of our Re-Greening program is to bring the island back to a pristine state (after being mined for guano in the 1800’s), to create habitat and increase populations of endangered seabirds and turtles. To date, over 4,000 native trees have been planted, a nursery established to propagate native species and many hectares of invasive weeds removed.

Lady Elliot was the first island chosen under the Reef Islands Initiative which is a 10 year program that aims to protect and restore 5 key reef island communities that are the homes, feeding and breeding grounds of critical wildlife that sustains the Great Barrier Reef and build climate change refuges for protection into the future.

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation Reef Islands Initiative has been funded by Lendlease, the Australian Government, the Queensland Government and the Stephen Fitzgerald Family Foundation.

All funding bodies and program partners - the GBR Foundation, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, island based business owners, local communities and traditional owners, share a vision and commitment to saving the Great Barrier Reef.

Jim Buck has been appointed the Project Manager for the Re-Greening Program and, together with his wife Anne, is working closely with the LEIER team and external stakeholders GBRMPA, QPWS and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to deliver the proposed project outcomes.

Inaugural Master Reef Guides

Our Managing Director Peter Gash and Activities Supervisor Jess participated in Great Barrier Reef's inaugural 'Master Reef Guides' program delivered by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators and Tourism and Events Queensland.

The 13 Master Reef Guides, who will be recognisable by their official Master Reef Guides uniform, undertook a comprehensive training course and field school program run by GBRMPA including reef management and protection, responsible practices, citizen science, and key skills like public speaking, story-telling and science communication.

Turtle Season

As predicted, this turtle season has been a bit slower than last year. We have had 43 confirmed turtle nests with more Green turtle nests than Loggerhead nests but that's normal for LEI. We have recorded a total of 399 turtle tracks so there could be more unconfirmed nests around the island. Staff and guests have also been lucky to witness baby turtles running down the beach at night, such a magical time of the year!

Great Eight

How many of the GBR's 'Great Eight' have you ticked off the list - Whales, Manta Rays, Clownfish, Turtles, Potato Cod, Giant Clams, Maori Wrasse, Sharks? You can find all of the Great Eight in the waters surrounding Lady Elliot Island so make sure you keep an eye out when you are on the glass bottom boat, snorkelling, diving, kayaking or reef walking.

Outback Adventure Tours

Outback Adventure kicks off for 2019 in April! Hosted by our sister company Seair, spend three days venturing out to central Australia to visit Birdsville, Lake Eyre and Charlotte Plains Cattle Station in the comfort of your own private aircraft.

After a successful launch to these tours in 2018, eight tours are on the cards for this year. The season runs from April through to September, with substantial floods already reaching Birdsville and headed towards Lake Eyre. It’s too early to call it but the floods passing through Birdsville have been called '1 in 40 years', so we’re hoping this will mean water on Lake Eyre and an absolutely amazing season of touring.

See seairpacific.com.au/touring for more information or contact our reservations team via email [email protected] or call +61 7 5599 4509 to reserve your place now!

Ocean to Outback Expedition

Crikey! Check out the newest Seair Touring expedition with Australia Zoo and Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort 'Ocean to Outback'.

Snorkel the Southern Great Barrier Reef before flying to Australia Zoo's conservation property in Outback Queensland via private aircraft. Only 8 seats available, book with our sister company Seair Pacific today via [email protected] or phone +61 7 5599 4509.

Only 2 days left to book packages!

Hurry, bookings for the 3 night 'Eco Escape' and the 5 night 'Manta Migration' packages close on the 28th February! Valid for travel May to August 2019, limited spaces available.

For more information, please check out the Packages page on our website.

Robert Goes Deep Sea Diving With Manta Rays!

Did you catch Robert Irwin visiting Lady Elliot Island on Animal Planet? Robert joins the Project Manta team to take photos of manta rays which helps identify individual rays on their data base.