It’s also a place of incredible beauty… where something as simple as four-wheel-driving through sandy tracks and out ontothe gazetted 75-Mile Beach Highway can make a visiting tourist’s entire Aussie holiday.
Here on Fraser, we’ve been seeing whales galore this month, including a Southern Right Whale mum and calf (Eubalaena australis) just metres off the resort’s jetty and our Humpbacks have been putting on plenty of impromptu shows on the eastern and western side of the island and for our Fraser Island ferry passengers.
We've even had a fur seal pop by for an extended holiday on the eastern beach. It's very difficult to tell the difference between the two species - New Zealand Fur Seals (Arctocephalus forsteri) are slightly smaller than their Aussie counterparts (Arctocephalus pusillus) and are best distinguished by their much darker colouration.
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| Everything you need to know about our Humpback holidaymakers... and more! |
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| Humpback Whale displays close to shore on Fraser Island |
To say that we’re excited is an understatement! And, if you've ever wondered what it's like to hear a Humpback sing, here's your chance!
For those out and about on the western side of the island, you might also be lucky enough to see a group of scientists from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USQ) who are using ground-penetrating radar to located disturbed ground, human remains and artefacts for indigenous burial sites. We'll keep you updated with any developments.
Guests venturing to the eastern side of the island may see smoke in the skies above Waddy Point and at Orchid Beach this month. Fire is a really important element for Fraser Island’s ecosystems. Many of the tree species that grow in our wallum (coastal heathland) and eucalypt forests require fire for their seeds to germinate. To help these environments to flourish and to prevent an unexpected wildfire, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service will be conducting controlled burns around Fraser Island right up until the end of the month.
As we mentioned last blog, our local Northern Brown Bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus) and Long-nosed Bandicoots (Perameles nasuta) dig for fungi underground - this action helps to cover leaf litter that would otherwise be a fire hazard and is just one of the many eco services provided by the bandicoots, which are commonly seen a night around Kingfisher Bay Resort.
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| A White-cheeked Honeyeater in repose |
In and around the resort, our beautiful White- cheeked Honeyeaters (Phylidonyris nigra - pictured left) have been nesting, and this is providing excellent photo opportunities for keen photographers. The nests are hidden well in the undergrowth and are not easy to find, so our team are only too happy to point them out on our daily Ranger-guided walks.
Off the Kingfisher Bay jetty, there have been small Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson), Trevally (Gnathanodon speciosus) and Dusky Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) caught through the days. Around the full moon, big Black Jewfish (Protonibea diacanthus) were caught in the evenings and, at night, our Rangers have been seeing our small insectivorous Micro-bats hunting with echolocation over the window lakes here at the resort. Bats are classified in a single Order, Chiroptera - Order being a biological term meaning a taxonomic group containing one or more families.
All in all a great month to live, work and visit paradise, Tree Huggers. Catch you next month.
