Coral is the most amazing stuff. It looks like rock, but it’s alive, and not rock at all but animal. The colonies are formed by millions of tiny soft-bodied polyps which have a hard outer skeleton that attaches to rock or to other (dead) coral skeletons. (More info about coral here.) And what a variety of corals there is! All the colours and textures that you can imagine, often growing around or on top of one another.

The ruffly yellow stuff looks rubbery, in contrast to the spikier coral behind it.
While snorkelling or diving around corals, it’s important to avoid touching them — not only can it damage the coral, but a person can get a nasty cut from those sharp edges.

What a mix of corals and textures here!

What IS that yellow stuff? It looks like spilled paint that has dried in wrinkles and folds.
I took some of these photos last week on the Great Barrier Reef near Port Douglas (with a GoPro I hired for the day), and some on the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns three years ago (with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT20 I bought for the trip, but it was second hand and died after one outing).

This is brain coral, I believe. I imagine that if you brush your finger along it, the little white knobs would feel plush. But I have no idea!

That white coral looks smooth, but I’d steer clear of the spiky stuff at lower right!

A texture contrast here of hard coral and smooth, slippery fish.

This is a Maori Wrasse dubbed “Frank”! He’s very friendly, as these divers are discovering. I don’t dive (only snorkel) so did not get to pat Frank and discover his texture.
There are so many warnings about the health of the reef and the damage we (and nature, in the form of destructive storms and voracious starfish) are causing, that I feel now is the time to see this astonishing feature — while it’s still there.
Great Pics, Kaz. I got scratched once. Ankle swelled and stayed slightly swollen for 3 years – almost a different shoe size.
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Three years?! Wow. I knew coral scratches could be nasty, but that’s crazy.
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Yep – of course I’m an extraordinarily sensitive fellow…
I thought it would be permanent, TBH, but it gradually resolved.
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Three years is a long “gradually”! btw did you see the news item today about the teen in Brighton (VIC) “eaten” by sea lice?? eek.
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Eeeuww. I’ll watch the news to see all about it. Gross!
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Eeeuww. I’ll watch the news to see all about it.
Just saw it – Gross!
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Poor kid! Could this be the beginning of a new Jaws?
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da-da da-da-da-da dadadadada …
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LOL!
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Wonderful pictures. Thanks for sharing them.
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Thanks Margaret. I’m glad to have a way to share them.
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We had a similar experience w a giant gorgeous grouper! A great memory thanks. I wish I’d rented a camera, never thought of it. Too used to my Nikon and not willing to buy underwater housing for it.😫
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I can guarantee your Nikon would have taken better photos than either of the two I used for these. 😦 I hadn’t realised GoPros took such poor quality images! OTH, it was dead simple to use and certainly waterproof.
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Lovely! We saw the reef from a glass-bottomed boat, but the colours on the photos were all green tinged! I wish I could snorkel but I am not a good swimmer and I am sure I would end up breathing in water!!
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The originals of these are as blue-green as you describe, and murky. It took a lot of Photoshopping to remove all that. Now to sharpen my Premiere Pro skills and tackle the videos. 😦 Color correction there is not so simple. The water last week was quite choppy (it was the outer reef, basically in the middle of the ocean!), so probably not the best place to begin snorkelling. Though the boat’s crew was great, and very safety conscious.
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Wow! These are beautiful.
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Thank you! It’s a pretty amazing experience.
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