December 2017 Grand Australia and New Zealand

lcady

Should I wait until I arrive in Melbourne to purchase my reef-safe sunscreen?

BKMD

Not sure what reef-safe sunscreen is. The ocean is the ocean.

I was on this trip last year and brought sunscreen from the US. Make sure it's less than 100 ml/3.5 oz if in your carry-on. While on the reef, you'll be given a wet suit that covers you from head to toe, so you really won't need sunscreen in the water, anyway.

lcady

Thanks for responding to my inquiry.
FYI, if you're interested in learning why I'm asking about reef safe sunscreen, here's a link to an article that appeared in a recent Vogue magazine about the impact of sunscreens on the worldwide coral reefs (including Australia's Great Barrier Reef).
http://www.vogue.com/article/reef-safe-sunscreens-oxybenzone-free-sea-turtles-environment-stream2sea

BKMD

Thanks for your info. I had never heard of reef-safe sunscreen before. And I've never read anything in Vogue, either (I'm male) :-)

Unfortunately, the section of reef we visited was pretty far gone already.

British

The human presence makes more impact than a little sunscreen on your body.

AlanS

British wrote:

The human presence makes more impact than a little sunscreen on your body.

As does climate change- I hope the Agincourt Reef visited by Tauck has not experienced bleaching like some areas of the Great Barrier Reef did in 2016.

I couldn't find anything recent about the condition of the reef on the Quicksilver site, or elsewhere, except for a few reports on trip advisor that said they didn't see any signs of bleaching at the platform dive site.

According to The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) in a report from June '16-

The majority of major bleaching related mortality is restricted to the northern third of the (Great Barrier) reef, from Lizard Island up to Cape York.

While the reef off Port Douglas and Cairns were stressed by bleaching, overall it wasn't effected as severely. While bleaching stress is still visible in some of the more vulnerable corals, signs of strong recovery are evident. The reef off Port Douglas and Cairns is still very healthy overall.

Media reports stating that 93 % of the Reef is practically dead are totally false. Some media and activist organisations were either purposely misleading the public, or completely negligent in their duty to report the facts. Overall mortality is projected to be closer to 22% with 85% of the mortality occurring between the tip of Cape York and just north of Lizard Island (250km north of Cairns).