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Flight Centre Travel Blog/15 Queensland Places to Free Your Inner Mermaid

15 Queensland Places to Free Your Inner Mermaid

Featured: Australia

This post originally appeared on Flight Centre Australia's blog

Let’s face it: most young girls (and I daresay a number of young boys) dream of sprouting scaly tails and becoming mermaids and mermen. Merpeople, if you will. But somewhere along the line, when imagination has to give way to more ‘practical’ thoughts of phone bills and health insurance, our dreams of living in giant clam shells are washed away.

Deep down, though, those fantasies of brushing your hair with a starfish and befriending wise-cracking crustaceans never truly die, and the great state of Queensland has ample places for you to splash freely.

Of course, we ALL know these mystical creatures exist, but who’s to say if they prefer salt or fresh water? A mermaid might feel just as comfortable beneath a cascade in Cairns as she would out on the reef.

In the wise words of Sebastian the crab; the human world? It’s a mess. Up on the shore they work all day, out in the sun they slave away, while we devotin’ full time to floatin’ under the sea…

Opal Reef, Port Douglas

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Swimming down to get a closer look at the BIGGEST GIANT CLAM I HAVE EVER SEEN!! 🐚🐚🐚😯😯😯 The 'True Giant Clam' (Tridacna Gigas) is the largest species in the Giant Clam family! They can reach a shell length of 1.5 m and can weight approximately 250 kg (shell) or 400 kg (shell and animal)!! 😯🐚 Giant clams obtain their nutrition from the microscopic zooxanthellae within their soft mantle tissue. With the mantle exposed to the sun, the zooxanthellae are able to photosynthesise, creating carbohydrate sugars and oxygen that the clam uses to survive!! In other words, the clam lives a life directly dependent on solar energy! ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️ Like corals, if the oceanic conditions are not optimum for the zooxanthellae (i.e. high sea surface temperatures, high levels of suspended sediment, high or low salinity etc..) the clams can become bleached (a process where the zooxanthellae are expelled from the animal due to poor conditions, and because the zooxanthellae gives the clams and corals their colour without them they become white, hence, bleached)! If the conditions do not return to an optimum level, it is likely that the clam will become stressed and unfortunately die! 😢😔😓 Increasing the health of our oceans needs to be a global effort..please join me to increase the health of our oceans by doing your part to improve the health of your local beach, coastline, sea and/or ocean..it could be something as simple as picking up rubbish or decreasing the amount of chemicals that you put down the drain! Every effort helps! ☺️✌🏼️🌊🌊☺️✌🏼🌊🌊 P.S. On a side note, how fabulous are my swim leggings? @roxy 🙊🙊😉🌺🌻🌺🌻 ------------------------------------------------- @tropicalnorthqueensland @queensland_captures @protectthereefofficial @greatbarrierreefqld ------------------------------------------------- #marine #marinebiology #clam #coral #great #greatbarrierreef #ocean #sea #water #mermaid #underwater #gopro #goprooftheday #adventure #active #healthy #explore #outdoors #nature

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Noosa National Park

Springbrook National Park

Lady Musgrave Island

Stoney Creek Falls, Cairns

Lady Elliot Island

Cedar Creek Falls, Airlie Beach

Lake McKenzie, Fraser Island

Ellinjaa Falls, Cairns

 

Burleigh Heads

Stradbroke Island

Mossman Gorge

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↬Stay Wild↫ How Sunday's Should Be..

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The Great Barrier Reef

Visit your local Flight Centre store or call 0800 587 0058 for more advice and the latest deals on travelling to Queensland.

Written by Ashton Rigg

When I'm not at home in Brisbane, you’ll find me wanderlusting around hipster bars, eclectic boutiques and arty nooks. From bagels in Brooklyn to strudel in Salzburg, I believe the best way to experience a destination is by taking a bite! Tweets & 'grams at @AshtonRigg

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