Kuranda with the Folks

Mom feeding a wallaby

This week not only is one of the last weeks of classes but also I am lucky enough to spend some time with my parents who decided to visit Australia in honor of my mom's retirement.
Apart from spending some time in Cairns and on the Esplanade we all took a trip up to the village of Kuranda.

Dad becomes a parrot perch

Though slightly the epitome of a tourism town; by corralling my parents to the walkway through the Koala Gardens, Bird World, and the Butterfly Sanctuary we were able to have a lot of fun and avoid most of the interpretation and ROS analysis. Mom got an official Australian souvenir of her picture with a "cuddly" koala. The grey kangaroos weren't too active so we coerced the wallabies into posing for pictures.

Her hat is now a toy

Then there was the birds. They needed no encouragement as my parents boldly ignored signs asking hats, shiny objects, and other lose hanging objects to be put away. The birds saw everything from their glasses, hats, and backpacks as new toys and perches. 
We walked around a bit and had lunch. Unfortunately, I am feeling a bit under the weather so we called it quits there. They are headed up north for some days on the beach and in the rainforest. I really hope they get a chance to relax and have lots of fun; it's been ages since they have had a real vacation.

Aunt Nancy do you recognize this one?

Seagrass and Dugongs

Ok so earlier in the field trip posts I nerded out about the mangroves. Now I am going to do a similar job of it on seagrasses and dugongs.

Seagrasses are this amazing group of aquatic plants that occurs in small pockets of temperate and tropical shallow waters. They are for the the most part rhizomatous, but do produce flowering structures and can reproduce by that method occasionally. They have an exceptional cuticle that allows for gas exchange but also helps to exclude salt from the plant. They grow in these massive lawns that resemble an underwater prairie.

Some of the most incredible creatures rely on seagrasses including sea turtles, sea dragons, and dugongs.

Sea dragons are a special type of sea horse that has fleshy projections that resemble weeds to help them be camouflaged within their home. The documentary Life has some great footage of a pair of courting sea dragons. I've linked a clip from YouTube to the right to share with you.

Dugongs are the relatives of North America's  manatees (who also eat seagrass in places like off the coast of Florida). They are slow gentle swimmers and have a similar lifestyle to manatees. They even look a like. The quickest give away that you are looking at a dugong and not a manatee is that the dugong's tail has two flukes shaped a bit like a dolphins while a manatee's tail is an oblong round shape like that of a paddle.
Dugongs are megafauna and a combination of habitat loss and past hunting has put them in danger of extinction. There is little we can do as humans but to protect their habitat and avoid running over them with our boats.

Image Source: DERM QLD Gov.© Colin Limpus

There is an excellent documentary released this past spring by a group headed by a professor from JCU Jamie Seymour called simply The Great Barrier Reef. I was trying to find just a clip of their dugong footage but couldn't. However the whole Australian version of the documentary and live Q&A sessions with this professor are available on YouTube. Check it out!

Taboo Topics

In the United States there are plenty of social issues that people get quite heated about, and have endless debates on- some of which leaves the rest of the world scratching their head on. Here are some examples of heavy topics that in either the States or Australia are considered dinner-table taboos.

Religion- In the U.S. this is supposedly a big deal! What religious affiliation you have seems to automatically slip you into a category and fascinates the media. Don't believe me? Look at all the attention that has been paid to the various associations different prospective Republican Presidential Nominees. For example the idea that Mitt Romney missed out in 08 because he is Mormon? or people concerned about the views of a pastor at a church the President Obama used to attend?
It is difficult to identify if either Australians don't have this situation because of A) they feel their communities are pretty homogenous in spirituality B) they don't feel like spirituality interferes with politics or C) its not that serious of a topic- really- No worries' mate!

Evolution- Dare mention evolution in the States and you get into a can of worms from the Scopes Monkey Trial to Creationism to Intelligent Design. In Australia, evolution is a given and a standard part of biology education.

Climate Change- Is it real? Is it a fabrication of arguing scientists? Is it human caused or completely natural?- No. In Australia there is no debate. Scientists here observing everything from extreme droughts & fires, coral bleaching, and the rise of tropical diseases have come to the conclusions: The climate is changing. Humans play a role. And its called Global Warming by the way.

Homosexuality- In the States this is hotly debated, mostly by those who want to debate what the definition of marriage is. Acceptance of a person's sexuality-no matter the orientation is on the rise every year. Six states and D.C. allow same-sex marriage, and five additional states have civil union legislation giving partners legal rights.
In Australia the topic is taboo. It is something never considered or talked about. (Unless brought up by curious, nosy, international students wanting to hear an opinion)

Politics- There is no tea-party but with the adds, roadsigns, debates, and passionate followers- heck it could be the states. Though not as much crying or petty whining after the election is over though, but that might just be my personal take on things.

Super Moon!

For those of you who didn't look outside your windows this past weekend: there was a supermoon. Otherwise known as a full moon that is much closer to the earth then usual.

The other students and myself came to the conclusion that the best place to view the supermoon was Trinity Park Beach. And it was incredible. Pictures and words do not capture what it was to see that beautiful orb emerging over the horizon and turning the blue/black world silver.

The tide was higher then we had ever seen it and the crashing waves were gilded with light. Swimming, fire dancing, and even some peaceful contemplation ensued.

As I said pictures seemed superflious so I didn't take any, but for some cool shots and more info on what causes a super moon visit this link: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/supermoon_2012.html