Moreton Island is the world's third largest sand island. It is about an hour away from Brisbane by ferry and is 98% National Park. On Saturday, our family left the house at 5:15 to head out for a day on the beach and a three hour whale watch cruise.
The beach was incredible. We docked around 7:30 and there were hardly any people out and about. Ellie and Gus were the only kids on the beach. Starfish had washed up overnight and were scattered along the beach. The kids, and the adults, were fascinated. These starfish had little orange suction cup looking tube feet poking out along the underside of each of its five arms. They were surprisingly heavy and felt very dense. Along with star fish research, we had a blast sliding down sand hills on our tummies and finding shells.
The whale watch took us north of Moreton Island and out towards the Pacific. From June through September of each year, Humpback and Right whales move north from Antarctica to their winter feeding and birthing territories. They swim right past Moreton Island and it is an amazing place to see them. We saw about 12 whales in 5 different pods. I learned that the little round scars on their backs are from cookie cutter sharks that latch on and make a perfectly round bite. We also saw dolphins, a sea turtle and a nurse shark.
It was a beautiful day and an amazing trip.
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