Doug Baird, Quicksilver Group's Environment and Compliance Manager said, "This Scorpionfish is a beautiful rare fish species and was first described in 1973. It is a master at camouflage and blends in well with its background and can be seen hiding under plate corals or on coral ledges. It has a distinctive head shape, large upturned mouth, dangly tentacles on the snout and varies in colour to blend into the environment. The three dorsal spines are venomous. They are ambush predators and feed on other fish. They are known to "ambush" other fish by walking on their pectoral fins instead of swimming and can grow up to 30cms.

It was indeed a special and memorable experience for the Silversonic divers who came up close and personal to this marine life wonder.

Viewing sea turtles, clams, corals and colourful fish from the glass bottom boat coral, the Chinese dignitary then enjoyed a walk along the beach and the calm waters of this beautiful coral cay island.

Madame Liu Yandong was accompanied by Quicksilver Group Managing Director Tony Baker and Environment Manager and Marine Biologist Doug Baird. Tony Baker said, "With direct flights from China to Cairns we are seeing more Chinese travellers arriving to visit the natural wonders of our region. It was wonderful that Madame Liu Yandong had the opportunity to visit the Great Barrier Reef which is a highlight for our visitors to Cairns."

With a greater percentage of Oxygen than Nitrogen than normal air, this means safer diving and potentially longer bottom times due to reduced nitrogen absorption which is especially attractive for older divers as well the experienced underwater adventurers including photographers and videographers.

This course is run in conjunction with our 3 Day 2 Night dive trip and consists of theory, two training dives and includes all post certification dives on Nitrox. Courses commence every day except Tuesday. For more information please contact the Pro Dive Cairns team at [email protected]

She was originally released in May 2010 after being in rehabilitation for 19 months with floaters disease. At the time, she became the first turtle on the Far North East coast of Australia to have a satellite tracking device attached to her back which has given a fascinating insight into turtles in the wild.

Jennie Gilbert, turtle researcher from CRTC and James Cook University said, “Matilda has been having a wonderful time and has travelled 4,707 kms sightseeing the underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef in the 2 years and 8 months since we first started tracking her. She stays around Green Island, visits other reefs and then comes back to Green Island. She has been back with us for 3 months as we thought she was looking a bit skinny.”

“The tracking device has enabled us to see how turtles live in the region and to see how and where they travel once released back into the wild.”

Quicksilver Group Managing Director, Tony Baker said “Green Island is a natural habitat for turtles and Great Adventures is pleased to assist with the wonderful work by CTRC, a not for profit organization. Their work is vital for assisting sick and injured turtles back into the wild and making sure these turtles find a way home. It’s amazing from the research of her tracker she swims on average over 5 kms every day. We hope Matilda enjoys getting back to her life around Green Island.”

The wider community can track Matilda and become part of her journey by accessing www.seaturtle.org

“I realised just what a commitment it was to send children to University and wanted to do something to help. This year, five new students join the current 11 students from previous years. We are looking to help their children achieve their dreams and hopefully find a career where they can offer future companies the same passion and commitment their parents have given to our Company.”

It is impressive their parents have worked for our Company for a combined service of over 160 years and are employed in diverse jobs from skipper, stores and coach captains, with some of the children not even born when their parent started working for Quicksilver and Great Adventures.  Three of the parents now represent 7 children in the scholarship program.

Each student is initially presented with $1,000. If they achieve a credit average over a semester then they will receive an additional $1,000. Additional bonuses are also paid if the students receive higher grades for individual subjects.

Edwina Kramer, wife of a 25 year Quicksilver Skipper said “As parents of three successful scholarship recipients, I can say that Shin Watari’s vision to offer the Quicksilver scholarship program has definitely made a difference and created an excellent incentive and opportunities for our children. It really helps to give a kick-start for all the costs involved such as books and accommodation fees. The distinction money is an especially brilliant way to give incentive to achieve highly and they have benefited greatly from this so far and we are truly grateful. It is also a wonderful acknowledgement of my husband’s commitment to Quicksilver”.

Tony Baker, Managing Director, Quicksilver Group said, “This has been a wonderful initiative by Shin Watari, who believes that providing children with the opportunity of higher education is very important. Today, education can open up many opportunities and the young adults who are part of our program are studying diverse degrees from Medicine and Nursing, Education, Science and Media.

Pictured Left to Right: Emily Kramer, Max Selwyn, Britta Winton and Tony Baker the Managing Director of Quicksilver Group.

Each day, the resident Activities Officer has a host of activities just waiting to be enjoyed. At 3pm, join a leisurely stroll along the boardwalk for an interesting insight to the island’s history, flora and fauna – ideal for the nature buffs! From 5pm, the fish feeding presentation from the jetty is a real treat to see.  Then it’s a short stroll to sunset beach for complementary sunset drinks.  From 8pm there’s stargazing sessions under the southern sky (weather dependent) followed by a guided night nature walk to see some of the nightlife on the reef and island. It’s also an ideal for walking off a delicious dinner!

During the day, enjoy a glass bottom boat coral viewing tour, snorkelling and most non-motorised beach activities such as kayaking, beach volleyball and windsurfing – all free inclusions for Green Island Resort house guests.

Travelling with Quicksilver's Marine Biologist, Dougie Baird they learnt how to take water samples, turtle watching, snorkelling and kayaking on the Great Barrier Reef. The Quicksilver Group employ a number of Working Holiday Visa crew and we also assisted with interviews with crew from Taiwan and Korea.

Image: Working Holiday Visa crew, Q, from Green Island Resort

Video: See the Sunrise TV interview with Ben Southhall and Dougie Baird here.

Michael Healy, Group Director Sales and Marketing said "It's an opportunity for the crew to highlight this significant national day and for our passengers to feel a part of the celebration - especially our international guests. Lamingtons of course featured on the menu - compulsory eating on Australia Day."