Setev kayaking
Day 17 Report

Day 17 - 28/4/08 - River Heads to Boonooroo

The wind was from the north and the tide was favourable so it was an easy 35km paddle down the top end of the Great Sandy Straits. Because I was looking for sea life (and short cuts) the kayak was often in water too shallow to float so I walked more than two kilometres towing it through shallow sections.

Down near Boonooroo life is not as abundant as up near the mouth of the Mary. On the rising tide over the shallow flats I saw stingrays, sharks, fish and about a dozen large turtles. One was in water about 300mm deep. It looked like a rock and seemed to take no notice when the kayak bumped into it bit you could see its head and legs less than half a metre from my hand.

It has been suggested that this abundance of life is due to the influence of the Mary and it makes a lot of sense. To think that anyone would place all of this at risk is very saddening. One can only hope that it is due to ignorance but even that is no excuse when these people have access to information if they care to listen.

We are staying at Gwen and Bill's place on the water and are treated like royalty. I donít think the crew want to leave. Gwen and Bill have seen major changes here even in the past eight years with huge declines in migratory wading bird numbers. Studies have shown that this decline is 70%. The RAMSAR listed wetlands here are very important.

End of the day
Turtle - look closely
On the bottom
At Gwen & Bills





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