We had a pretty cruisy morning , chatting to Terry & Robyn next door till lunch time . It was hot again and we didn't feel inclined to do much - it got to 36 degrees again - peaking at 11am .
Lunch out of the way , we headed down to the information centre , looking at some paintings ( a bit of culture there !! ) , then checking some brochures and a photo of Shark Bay from one of the space shuttle missions - quite impressive !!
That done , we drove out of town to the south , to Denham Lookout . Great views back toward town and back to the south .
From there , it was off to Ocean Park Aquarium . An interesting place , they have resident marine biologists that walk around telling you all about the specimens on exhibit , it doesn't matter when you arrive , you just join in where the tour is up to , and go round again till it gets to where you arrived . You can ask as many questions as you like and they like the interaction with the public .
We joined as they were chatting about Nemo - clown fish and continued with anemones and lots of other reef inhabitants .
We next went to the Lion Fish - they had a few different coloured ones .
From these we went to one of the more dangerous fish , and probably the ugliest - Stone Fish - definitely a problem if you stand on them !!
Because they are so well camouflaged , you could easily mistake them for rocks !! Off to the next tank , there was a leopard ray , a small sting ray , shovel nose rays , a nervous shark - apparently if you enter the water , they will go the opposite direction to get as far away from you as they can !
Heading outside to the big tank , we got to see them feeding the sharks - more like teasing the sharks, they don't eat that much . There were lemon sharks swimming around , the biggest a bit more than 2.5m long , also in the pond were golden trevally , black trevally , snapper , cobia ( look a lot like sharks , only smaller ) and barramundi . The pond was a bit green - this happens in the hot weather , so the photos weren't the best .
Back inside to some other tanks with barramundi , potatoes cod , crayfish , bream & coral trout . We learnt that crayfish outgrow their shells , when they do , they extract the calcium from the outer shell and store it in their head until required to help harden up their new shell . The old shell is removed and dropped onto the ocean floor , the new shell hardening up in 8 hours . Apparently prawns do the same thing , so when you get one at the Bbq that's a bit soft to peel , it's not getting old & past it , it's just getting ready to get into it's new shell !!
The next 2 tanks had some interesting things - moray eels and sea snakes . Moray eels can take your fingers off with their razor sharp small teeth . There were 4 eels in this tank , as well as coral trout & some other fish .
We had arrived back to where we started , so headed back into the air-conditioned cafe & shop to cool off a bit . Getting back to the ute ,we headed back into town , it was time for cheese & bickies and a beer !!
The sea breeze was coming in and cooling things off nicely , it was really pleasant sitting in the shade , taking in the view over the bay , as the sun sets again over Dirk Hartog Island .
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