I am now on my 5th day of this amazing Study Abroad adventure through Australia and New Zealand, currently in Cairns. We have so much left to do in the city but we definitely did our big one yesterday. Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef wasn’t just the highlight of this trip, it was one of the most surreal, grounding, and beautiful things I’ve ever experienced. The colors of the coral, the clarity of the water and the way the fish literally swam up to our faces like they’d been waiting for us? Absolutely unreal.
The sea-life we saw here was unmatched. I saw a stingray glide underneath me, my friends saw actual sharks, and we all saw a sea turtle from the deck of the boat. We swam through schools of vibrant blue and rainbow fish, and in that moment, I weirdly felt like a guest, like this reef was someone’s home and that we were just lucky enough to be visiting.
That’s when it hit me how fragile this ecosystem is. We talked about how normal sunscreen, the generic kind your mom always makes you throw in your beach bag, can actually bleach coral and harm marine life. We saw the bright bleached coral in comparison to the colorful or otherwise healthy coral, and seeing such a drastic environmental change like that is seriously so eye-opening. Australia is way more strict and mindful about this, as they often encourage (and even sometimes provide) reef-safe sunscreen, which avoids chemicals such as the otherwise potent oxybenzone that can damage coral. Because we don't see the damage firsthand, we often overlook the impact our everyday habits have on the environment. It’s easy to assume one bottle of sunscreen, one plastic wrapper, or one careless choice won’t make a difference, especially when the consequences aren’t right in front of us. But being out on the reef, face to face with living coral and wildlife, made it impossible to ignore. The reef isn’t just a must-see location, it’s a living ecosystem, and it’s incredibly sensitive to human activity. The smallest things, like the ingredients in our sunscreen or the trash we leave behind, can have ripple effects we’ll never even see. Just because the damage isn’t immediate doesn’t mean it isn’t real.
Later that night, after 4 rounds of shampoo and conditioner, we celebrated a birthday at Backyard Cairns for dinner where I tried barramundi, otherwise known as Asian Sea Bass, for the first time. Then we walked over to Salt House, a modern and ambient hangout spot for eats and drinks with a live lo-fi DJ. We ended our night by walking to PJ O’Brien’s for their wednesday karaoke night (this is their red shed) where we watched two men from London absolutely butcher 'Baby' by Justin Bieber.
It was a busy and perfect day, the kind that makes you laugh, think, and leave with a tiny sense of purpose.
