Lady Musgrave: A Brief Connection with a Sea Turtle

by Laura Howley (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

Making a local connection Australia

In the far south of Australia's Great Barrier Reef lies Lady Musgrave Island. Roughly two hours off the coast from the home of ginger beer (Bundaberg), it is surrounded by a lagoon of pure turquoise and sleeping coral, and if you're lucky, you'll see the heads of the odd curious turtle emerge slightly just to get a quick breath before heading back to their underwater nests. Myself and my husband Jake were lucky enough to catch one of the local tourist vessels out to the Island in November last year. I went with high hopes of finding the one animal I always wanted to see in Australia. Sea turtles! I have had this strange fascination with turtles since first coming to Australia in 2015, to the point where I squeal like a child at the thought of seeing one. And today, I thought, would be the day. Boarding the boat, I remember breathing in that warm salty air (already 30 degrees at 7am), as we were happily welcomed on board, given our induction, and set sail into the waters of the Coral Sea. I had a coffee and determination on my side. One hour into the journey, and after a cheeky nibble of a cream scone, I risked going below deck to use the facilities. Moving around on a boat can sometimes be a precarious business, and trying to manoeuvre down a small flight of stairs and then trying to relieve oneself while realising you are becoming more nauseous by the second, and THEN proceeding to go back UP the stairs and back onto the outdoor deck. Well, let’s say that for the remainder of the trip to Lady Musgrave, a paper bag became my best friend. I called him Pappy. One hour later, we finally arrived, Entering the island’s lagoon was reminiscent of entering an ancient wonder; you can only enter it a certain way, and if you get it wrong, you’re screwed. But get in we did, and compared to the choppy waters of the ocean, the lagoon's waters were smooth as marble. We glided with ease across the water until the anchor was lowered and we were mere minutes away from the island. Now, if I could, I would wax lyrical about how the island smelled of bird poop, why we ended up in the wrong tour group and the many different types of noodles available at the buffet, but instead, I’ll stick to my main goal; whether or not I saw any turtles. Two hours later, we had just slipped on our flippers and were happily having a snorkel out in the corals. We had just seen schools of fish, a rogue baby shark, and even a rather flamboyant octopus, but no turtles. I’d lost track of time at one point and found myself swimming in circles around some coral, when suddenly, one of the reef masters waved me over. ‘We just saw a turtle over there….’ she exclaimed. I turned around so fast, my right foot wasn’t expecting it and started getting cramp. Through the pain, I used my arms to push me forward, and eventually found myself floating above a new part of the reef, and there, bobbing up and down, to my awe and amazement, was a large hawksbill turtle! I felt my eyes watering with joy and, feeling Jake beside me, held his hand as we just floated there. I can’t put into words how beautiful this creature was. Just for a moment, I felt completely calm. We even shared eye contact before it went back to munching on algae. We were there for nearly twenty minutes before Jake had to convince me we really had to go back to the boat. Before we set off, I took one last look at the island and the lagoon, thinking about how we would remember this beautiful day forever. We then saw some people pointing off into the ocean at these two dark shapes bobbing up and down. ‘You see that?’ questioned the captain. I shrugged. ‘Well, it’s mating season isn’t it?’ Everyone shared a laugh as daylight faded and the boat set off back to Bundaberg, leaving the horny turtles behind.