Sal Rei Island

After saying farewell to Conor ( while holding back the tears :-)), we welcomed a days rest away from the water. At the moment our boat is getting some rest too and a quick service as it has being clocking up the mileage over the last couple of weeks. 

Today we hit the water again, but without our boat we were in it rather than on it. Myself and Ken O’Sullivan snorkelled through a kilometre of shallow water to reach Sal Rei Island. We spotted plenty of healthy coral and colourful reef fish on our crossing, far too many to try and identify. Sal Rei Island is a small island in Sal Rei bay, measuring roughly 1.5x0.5 km. It is currently uninhabited and there are plans underway to establish a whale research centre along with accommodation on the island. On the island there are remains of a small Portuguese fort and a basic lighthouse. Both of which are great vantage points offering views over the main study area of our research. Valiant efforts are taking place to clear the island of rubbish which as accumulated over the years. Progress is being made swiftly and hopefully the centre will be open sometime next year ready for more extensive research to take place.

                                    Ken manning the fort with view of Sal Rei Bay in backround

Species List: Osprey(3), Cattle egret(2), Brown-necked Raven, Gecko (4), Cardinal fish, Powdered Tang, Damsel fish, Parrot fish, Rainbow Wrasse.

Darren Craig.