Day Eight: Great Barrier Reef!!!!!!!

Today, we went to the Great Barrier Reef, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World; I can clearly see why it's on that list. The GBR is the most unique and most beautiful thing I have ever seen!  We went out in a huge cadamaran and it docked at a permanent pontoon where all the snorkel equipment was.  We went snorkeling as soon as we could, in our uber sexy masks, flippers, and life vests.  We ditched the life vests pretty soon.  The coral was amaxing.  A lot of it was gray, which was sad, but it was all different colors in other places.  And the fish!  Oh, the fish.  They were so cool.  It was Finding Nemo all over again, minus the sharks and jellies.  I'm not kidding, I saw Dory and Nemo and some anemone.  Lexa, Reilly, and I all saw an eel, which was pretty awesome because on one else saw it.  The water was really cold at first, but once we got used to it, it was absolutely amazing and we didn't want to leave.  Kelsy showed Lexa and I a place where the coral was really bright, so we swam around there for a while, and then we brought Amanda and Alex there.  As we cruised aweay from the Reef, I decided that I was going to visit the Reef again, after I saw all of the other Wonders of the World.
The wildlife int he GBR was so incredible becuase it was nothing I had ever seen before.  Aquariums don't do the ocean any justice; it's just so much better when there's no glass or noises, just your breathing through the snorkel.  There were some enormous clams down there.  I didn't realize what they were at first because they were purple on the inside.  And then I saw one close.  I'm not going to lie, it was pretty scary.  Apparently, Mr. Schagrin and Mr. Ewen saw a five foot reef shark and they were chasing it, and, according to Schags, that was when he lost his wedding ring.  I'm pretty jealous of the whole shark thing, but at the same time, they didn't see an awesome eel slithering along the ocean floor.  The GBR amazed me because it is not man made at all, so the fact that it's all natural is incredible.  I've never been much one for nature, but the GBR turned something on inside me that ust makes me want to go explore the whole world and to see all the different ecosystems that can create a little world in which everything can coexist.