Marine Discoveries, Cairns

POV: You ask the team if they fancy going snorkelling on the GBR…

Some people hesitate. We start packing our fins before you’ve finished the question 🤿

Never gets old. Every trip is different, every reef has something new to discover, and it’s still one of the greatest privileges to spend time on the world’s largest coral reef system 🌊

P.s. thanks July interns for always following through with Lilys random ideas 🤩

When are you next heading to the reef? 👇

Marine science isn’t always sunshine AND rainbows… 🌧️🌈

…oh wait, up here on the northern Great Barrier Reef, sometimes it actually is.

Tropical North Queensland is famous for its warm, humid climate and seasonal rain - but that’s all part of what makes this region so incredible. Rainfall helps replenish freshwater systems, delivers nutrients that support coastal habitats like mangroves and seagrass, and keeps the tropical forests surrounding the reef thriving. Those forests, in turn, help stabilise soils, store carbon and support the countless connections between land and sea🌴

A little rain has never stopped us. Our interns just chuck on a rain jacket, laugh about it and carry on learning, collecting data and making the most of every day on the reef 🐚

Because marine science isn’t about waiting for perfect conditions—it’s about experiencing nature exactly as it is. And honestly… we wouldn’t have it any other way 🩵

Fun Fact Friday ~ Ever wondered why reef fish are so colourful while many open ocean fish are sleek and silver? 🌊

It’s all about survival.

On a coral reef, bright colours, bold patterns and unique body shapes help fish blend into the complex reef, communicate with each other, defend territories and even warn predators. Out in the open ocean, there’s nowhere to hide, so many species have streamlined bodies for efficient swimming and silvery-blue colours that help them disappear into the surrounding water 🐠

Every colour, stripe and shape has evolved for a reason—and it’s a brilliant reminder of how perfectly marine life adapts to its environment 🪸

🎥 This week’s Fun Fact Friday was created by our amazing intern Elliot - who also shared his birthday with us today 🎂

What other reef mysteries would you like us to explain? 👇

Welcome to a brief summary of what our reef days can look like for an intern at Marine Discoveries 🫧

Our Marine Biologist Lily, takes us through some reef health impact survey training - practicing monitoring general reef health, composition and impacts. After training & data collection we input her data into eye on the reef 🪸

Then we jump in and practice reef fish identification and biodiversity surveying using AIMS methods & species list 🐠

We hope you enjoyed this video as much as we enjoyed making it 🙆 made my our legendary interns Julia and Elliot ✨

A living reef stretching for over 2,300 km, visible from space, built by billions of tiny coral polyps over thousands of years. Hard to compete with that 👽

Just another day on the Great Barrier Reef with Marine Discoveries ✨🐠

Jump onto our website to view all information regarding booking onto our work placement experiences & reef naturalist programmes 🐚

🦈 Fun Fact Friday: Sharks have a sixth sense

Sharks can detect the tiny electrical fields emitted by living things. Using special pores called the Ampullae of Lorenzini, they can locate prey hidden under sand, even in complete darkness 🌒

This real life superpower allows sharks to hunt my sensing the faint electrical whisper of a heartbeat⚡️

Did you know about this superpower??? 👀

Made by our June intern Julia ✨

Sources: Kalmiji (1971), Kajiura et al. (2002), Journal of Experimental Biology