13 Oct 2017

Abundant Marine Life on Little Mussau

Overnight last night we had a little more wind than normal on our bow but it was still a comfortable ride and by dawn the hills of Mussau were clearly visible. First ashore were the bird watchers who headed for the hills immediately after landing in search of the islands endemic species...a number of which they found during the morning!

The rest of us followed shortly afterwards and enjoyed a pleasant stroll to the beautiful falls were we were able to cool off after the walk and relax beneath the rushing tumbling water as it cascaded into the deep pool below. Some of our group spotted a bat which Tim Flannery was very excited to hear about, it is possibly an undescribed species of flying fox or represents a significant range expansion for one of New Irelands bat species...further visits will be needed to continue the search!

This morning was year 10 exams at Mussau school so we walked quietly through the school grounds near our landing place so as not to disturb the students. Back aboard the Spirit of Enderby by lunchtime we enjoyed a snack of scones and banana bread before landing on the tropically stunning Little Mussau where our chefs had prepared a BBQ feast with fresh baked bread and bacon buties to power us into an afternoon of snorkelling. The visibility was excellent and the marine life abundant, of particular note was the excellent numbers and diversity of Giant Clams and also the colourful tube worms projecting from the large brain corals. All in all it was a great and very busy day at Mussau and now we are on our way to Kavieng.