Quickies Issue # 903, Spring 2009

It’s been a whale of a whale season with numerous humpback sightings during their annual sojourn to the warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef! The most memorable appearance by the most famous of all - Migaloo the albino humpback, delighted passengers aboard our Cairns and Port Douglas vessels.

Migaloo was spotted by Quicksilver VIII and Silversonic between Tongue Reef and Low Isles on 13 August on the homeward journey from Agincourt Reef. Then some 24 hours later it was Great Adventures passengers’ turn to be thrilled to sight Migaloo near Green Island at around 4.30pm. At the same time, Great Adventures passengers returning from the outer reef also had the thrill of seeing a mother and calf put on quite a display!

Quicksilver Group’s Environment and Compliance Manager Doug Baird said the population has stabilised and is predicted to grow at approximately 10% per year, therefore the likelihood of encountering a humpback whale at this time of year is increasing.

In 2007, Silversonic was the first to sight Migaloo, at that time swimming with two other humpbacks and travelling north off Undine Cay on the 24th of July 2007. In the two preceding years, the Quicksilver Group was again the first to sight Migaloo – off Green Island in 2006 on the 15th July, and in 2005 he was sighted off Low Isles on the 16th July.

The humpbacks’ smaller cousins, the Minke whales, have also been thrilling passengers with the unique opportunity to actually swim with these beautiful creatures with Silversonic, one of the few vessels with a permit from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to conduct this activity.

All whale sightings, and swimming with the Minkes are conducted in strict accordance with Australian National Guidelines.

 

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Setting another benchmark in environmentally sustainable practices, Quicksilver has introduced biodiesel fuel on its fleet of coaches. Initially introduced onto two coaches, a 53 and 57 seater, this cleaner, non-toxic and biodegradable fuel will be rolled out to our fleet of 10 coaches over the next few months. The trail is being run in conjunction with Trinity Petroleum. » Read full story

Quicksilver Group’s Managing Director, Tony Baker has been appointed to Tourism Queensland’s Board. Tony joins five new appointees to the board.

Tourism Queensland Chairman Don Morris said he was delighted to welcome five such high-profile new board members.

» Read full story

Green Island’s enclosed food court dining area has been named “Green’s Buffet Servery”. Guests can enjoy a delicious buffet or a meal purchased from one of the island’s food outlets including the Canopy Grill or Lite Bites in this lunch retreat amid the rainforest. » Read full story

Already awarded Cleanest Beach in Far North Queensland, Green Island recently received a new honour in being named as one of the top 10 Bushwalks in Queensland by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM).This beautiful rainforest-clad island has a circumference of just 1.6 km and is home to over 120 species of plants, including a mixture of coastal and rainforest plants. » Read full story

With our day cruises now available to be booked directly online with our Group Booking System, there’s been the added bonus for our local agents using the system with some fabulous nights at Green Island Resort to be won.

Congratulations to our recent winners, Alan from Villas Palm Cove and Deb from Glengarry Holiday Park in Port Douglas.

Check out these beautiful critter photos taken by Silversonic skipper, Shane “Sharky” Down.

» Pipe Fish
» Tiger Cowrie

In stunning weather conditions, new course records were set at the annual Great Adventures Green Island Ocean Swim on Sunday 6th September. With entrants from Cairns, Townsville and around Australia and New Zealand, swimmers were challenged with the 1.5km and 3km swims in this unique Great Barrier Reef event.Many were awestruck on finishing the spectacular course, spotting an array of marine life including turtles, rays and small reef tip sharks along the way.» Read the full Story

Following our annual charity beach volleyball event, part of the annual Great Adventures Green Island Family Day, we were pleased to donate some much-needed funds to two very deserving animal charities.The beach volleyball challenge featuring 16 competing teams raised $1444 for the Young Animal Protection Society (YAPS) and the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. » Read the Full Story

We�re pleased to once again be supporting our community with our annual Christmas Charity Appeal. With the support of many local tour desks and industry colleagues we are able to bring a little Christmas cheer to those less fortunate through donations of food and gifts to the Salvation Army, Lifeline, St Vincent�s and Douglas Shire Community. We look forward to your support again this year, more information on collection dates will be available soon.

Jennifer Westgarth

Jennifer Westgarth is our Port Douglas-based Reservations Manager overseeing Quicksilver, Silversonic and Wavedancer cruises.

You can contact Jenny at [email protected]

Jill Goodworth

Jill Goodworth is our Cairns-based Reservations Manager overseeing all of Great Adventures, Silverswift and Central Reservations functions.

You can contact Jill at [email protected]

Thank you to Silverswift and the crew for the fantastic day I spent visiting the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns - it really was one of the best days of my life for many reasons. The crew were fantastic, the boat was lovely and steady, the weather was beautiful, the food was tasty, I scuba-dived and snorkelled for the first time ever and saw and learnt so many amazing things. Thank you so much for the major part you played in my memorable day!

Best Wishes
Sarah

Humpback whales regularly migrate from Antarctic waters along the east coast of Australia every winter. They are generally seen on the Great Barrier Reef between the months of June to September as they migrate to warmer waters to mate and give birth.

Humpback whales are easily identified by having extremely large pectoral fins (their scientific name is Megaptera, which literally means giant wing), and scalloped flukes.

They grow up to approximately 16 metres in length, weighing in at 30-50 tonnes. Male humpbacks produce “songs”, which are believed to attract females at mating times.

One of Great Adventures reef activity platforms (Moore Reef) has just undergone an extensive refurbishment, ensuring our commitment to the best visitor experiences with not only spectacular reef sites, but also with first class facilities maintained to the highest standards. Not to be forgotten was the platform Caretaker who has the one of the �Best Jobs in the World� living on the reef 24 hours a day, with a refurbishment to his quarters.

Channel Ten�s children�s science program �Scope� had a great visit to Green Island with host Dr Rob, discovering the island and teaching children about corals and marine life of the Great Barrier Reef.

The winner of the �Best Job in the World�, Ben Southall spent an action-packed few days as a guest at Green island Resort in July. From working as an Aussie lifeguard to working behind the scenes of a luxury eco resort, �multi-skilling� would be one way to describe Ben�s activities on Green Island while taking on the challenge of his new role as Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

Arriving by seaplane late afternoon, one of his first �duties� was to experience sunset drinks on the beach of this beautiful Great Barrier Reef island, a complimentary evening activity all house guests can enjoy.

Tourism Queensland�s new domestic marketing campaign was launched in Cairns aboard Great Adventures� Reef Prince by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh. The fun campaign features the old Monkees theme tune with the new lyrics 'Hey Hey this is Queensland.'

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» Great Adventures Outer Reef
» Great Adventures Green Island
» Green Island Resort