Thursday 15 September Ease Island

Leaving the rolley Havannah harbour behind we had a superfast sail up to Ease island. We were the only yachts there and although we saw smoke curling up through the onshore trees we didn't see any local people. The guides said we'd find excellent diving on the fringing reef. Sadly all we found was a coral graveyard. Something had killed all the coral a few years before we arrived. It was making a comeback with new growth showing in places. There were anemones and clown fish and quite a few fish on the reef. What could have killed all this coral? Possibly a hurricane because we saw some table corals knocked over, but not likely. Other culprits could be an invasion of Crown of Thorns starfish or sudden rise or fall in water temperature but not man made because no one lives here.

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