Marine life of

Australia » Cairns, Qld

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Cairns is located on the east coast of Australia in the north of the province Queensland. Cairns is the main gateway to the Great Barrier Reef (Coral Sea) and most of the liveaboards start from here. Finding a reef tour operator will not be difficult and exploring the Great Barrier Reef can be done in a number of ways. The Great Barrier reef is known for it's big diversity of marine life animals.

If your time or budget is limited you can book a daytrip. Between 1 -2 hours by boat you can reach several interesting destinations. You can visit sandy cays like Michaelmas and Upolu, go to Green Island or visit nearby reefs like the Thetford reef, Moore reef, Sudbury reef or the Arlington reef. Divers, snorklers and non-swimmers can usually join the same tour.
In this part of the Coral sea / Great barrier reef the visibility is between 10-20 meters, depending on the weather and time of day. Besides different kinds of soft- and hard corals, you can expect batfish, clown fish, giant trevalies, green turtles, baby blacktip reef sharks and schools of snappers and fusiliers.

If you have more time and a bigger budget it is definitly worth if to join a liveaboard trip. It gives you the chance to visit the more remote reefs, like the Ribbon Reefs or the amazing Osprey reef.
The Osprey reef is known for its shark activity. Silky sharks, Whitetip and Blacktail reef sharks are frequently seen here. You have a fair chance to encounter Manta or Eagle rays and big schools of Barracuda and Tuna. If you are lucky you might see Silvertips, Hammerheads, Whalesharks, Whales, Dolphines or Sailfish.

Organised liveaboard trips usually range from 2 days (one night) up to 7 days (six nights). During a liveaboard trip you will visit different kinds of reefs, see more marine life species, see less people, have better visibility and have the opportunity to do night diving. It's no surprise that many people have this set to their bucket list. It will be an experience you will never forget!

 

  1. Indo-Pacific sergeant

    Abudefduf vaigiensis

    serg_dibrova (C) All rights reserved

  2. Bicolor chromis

    Chromis margaritifer

    Stubblefield Photography (C) All rights reserved

  3. Sapphire devil (subadult)

    Chrysiptera cyanea

    feathercollector (C) All rights reserved

  4. Reticulate dascyllus

    Dascyllus reticulatus

    Jung Hsuan (C) All rights reserved

  5. Red fire goby

    Nemateleotris magnifica

    bluehand (C) All rights reserved

  6. Common dolphinfish

    Coryphaena hippurus

    Matt9122 (C) All rights reserved

  7. Mandarin dragonet

    Synchiropus splendidus

    Teguh Tirtaputra (C) All rights reserved

  8. Spotted eagle ray

    Aetobatus narinari

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  1. Orange-striped emperor

    Lethrinus obsoletus

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  2. Scribbled leatherjacket filefish

    Aluterus scriptus

    Al@in76 (CC: BY)

  3. Commerson's frogfish (in multiple colours)

    Antennarius commerson

    prilfish (CC: BY)

  4. Warty frogfish (adult - yellowish)

    Antennarius maculatus

    Ethan Daniels (C) All rights reserved

  5. Striated frogfish

    Antennarius striatus

    Ye Choh Wah (C) All rights reserved

  6. Erythrops goby

    Bryaninops erythrops

    scubaluna (C) All rights reserved

  7. Redeye goby

    Bryaninops natans

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  8. Twinspot goby

    Signigobius biocellatus

    Chris K Horne (C) All rights reserved

  1. Ambanoro prawn-goby

    Vanderhorstia ambanoro

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  2. Coral hind

    Cephalopholis miniata

    Derek Keats (CC: BY)

  3. Tomato hind

    Cephalopholis sonnerati

    Fiona Ayerst (C) All rights reserved

  4. Malabar grouper

    Epinephelus malabaricus

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  5. Greasy grouper

    Epinephelus tauvina

    Paul Vinten (C) All rights reserved

  6. Potato grouper

    Epinephelus tukula

    Pete Niesen (C) All rights reserved

  7. Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips (adult)

    Plectorhinchus vittatus

    Hendrik Martens (C) All rights reserved

  8. Harlequin sweetlips (subadult)

    Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  1. Spotted hawkfish

    Cirrhitichthys aprinus

    aquapix (C) All rights reserved

  2. Longnose hawkfish

    Oxycirrhites typus

    orlandin (C) All rights reserved

  3. Giant trevally

    Caranx ignobilis

    stephan kerkhofs (C) All rights reserved

  4. Golden trevally (juvenile)

    Gnathanodon speciosus

    nicolas.voisin44 (C) All rights reserved

  5. Variegated lizardfish

    Synodus variegatus

    Elias Levy (CC: BY)

  6. Snowflake moray

    Echidna nebulosa

    kaschibo (C) All rights reserved

  7. Starry moray

    Gymnothorax nudivomer

    Dray van Beeck (C) All rights reserved

  8. Loch's Chromodoris

    Chromodoris boucheti

    Jung Hsuan (C) All rights reserved

General tags:
Marine life, Fish, Fishcard, Fishslate, Scuba diving, Snorkeling, Underwaterphotography, Uwphotography, Reeflife, MyFishGallery.

Marine species tags:
Anemonefish, Angelfish, Barracuda, Batfish, Blenny, Boxfish, Butterflyfish, Cardinalfish, Clownfish, Crab, Cuttlefish, Eagle ray, Frogfish, Lizardfish, Manta ray, Moray eel, Nudibranch, Octopus, Parrotfish, Porcupinefish, Pufferfish, Scorpionfish, Seahorse, Shark, Shrimp, Snake eel, Snapper, Squirrelfish, Stingray, Trevally, Triggerfish, Turtle, Unicornfish, Whale, Wrasse.

Marine life tags:
Big blue octopus, Blackspotted puffer, Blue shark, Bluespotted stingray, Common dolphinfish, Golden trevally, Great barracuda, Green turtle, Harlequin sweetlips, Hawksbill sea turtle, Humpback whale, Humphead parrotfish, Leaf scorpionfish, Malabar grouper, Mandarin dragonet, Pharaoh cuttlefish, Ribbon moray, Scribbled filefish, Snowflake moray, Spotted wobbegong, Starry moray, Straited frogfish, Thorny seahorse, Tital triggerfish, Weedy scorpionfish, Whale shark, White shark, Yellow boxfish.

Locationtags:
Cairns, Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Diving Cairns, Diving Coral Sea, Diving Great Barrier Reef, Diving Australia, Marine life Cairns, Marine life Coral Sea, Marine life Great Barrier Reef, Marine life Australia, Diving Cairns, Diving Coral Sea, Diving Great Barrier Reef, Diving Australia, Snorkeling Cairns, Liveaboard, Liveaboard Cairns, Liveaboard Great Barrier Reef, Liveaboard Coral Sea, Liveaboard Australia, Snokeling Coral Sea, Snorkeling Great Barrier Reef, Snokeling Australia, Holiday Cairns, Holiday Australia.