The four islands of the Lacepede Islands lie off the coast of Western Australia, about 120km north of Broome.
We are still en route to the Lacepede Islands this morning when Captain Marchesseau announces at 6 am over the speaker system that there is a humpback whale breaching near the ship. By the time I get to the nearest vantage point, the whale is taking its 20th and 21st jump for the morning.
The Lacepede Islands are a designated Important Bird Area, which means no landings are possible. The weather conditions on our arrival early in the morning aren’t as expected – strong winds and the tidal current are creating difficult conditions for the zodiac tours, delaying the start time by an hour. Whilst it is cooler for the 9 am group, it is actually much better for the 11:15 group as the sea is back to its flat, green glassy surface, and the only chop is crossing into the lagoon.
The Lacepede Islands are also an important breeding area for green sea turtles, and there is plenty of it going on in the shallow water of the islands.
This female turtle is on her back in the water to stop the male hooking on to her carapace.
The lagoon itself is home to hundreds of juvenile turtles, colonies of juvenile brown boobies, common noddies and migratory birds from Siberia.
There are large flocks of juvenile brown boobies on the sea surface, some are practicing their plunge-diving. The adults with their pristine white bellies are soaring overhead, looking for food for their almost independent chicks.
This brown booby chick with its white downy feathers yet to molt is still feeding from its parent, despite being the same size.
The afternoon is a ‘free’ afternoon as we depart the Lacepede Islands, and I spend it whale watching from the bridge. There are plenty of blows along the way and one female and calf on the surface who depart pretty quickly as we motor past.
There are a surprising number of sea snakes in the water as well. This Stokes sea snake was at least 1.5 metres long swimming calmly alongside the ship, despite their reputation for venomous aggression.
After 90 minutes or so, we spot a pod of whales breaching in the distance, and the next hour is spent trying to get a better view of them. They are not frightened by L’Austral, and come quite close to the ship as they go about their business. We spend quite some time waiting to see if they will breach again, but no such luck this afternoon.
Our next destination tomorrow is Raft Point for more Aboriginal art galleries and Montgomery Reef in the afternoon, but in the meantime, another spectacular moon rising and sunset.
