We got up early this morning so that we’d be ready for our mandatory Zodiac briefing at 8:30; I stuck my head out to look at the weather and enjoyed the view of the pre-sunrise crepuscular rays and the crescent moon.

After the briefing, we went out for our first Zodiac tour; we circumnavigated Trimouille Island, which the British used as the site of their first A-bomb test back in 1952 – even now, they recommend not spending more than an hour a day on or near the island. We saw lots of birds, including the White-Bellied Sea Eagle and the Eastern Osprey.

We were supposed to go out snorkeling soon after lunch, but they were worried about the waves being too rough for people to be able to get in and out of the Zodiacs safely. So they repositioned the ship to the other side of the island and rescheduled Joel Weisberg’s second lecture on the “Birth, Life, and Death of Stars” to happen while we were moving. He’s a great teacher, and a lot of fun.

After the lecture, the expedition team lead got on the PA and announced that there would be a snorkeling trip – but he discouraged anyone but advanced snorkelers from participating because conditions would be difficult. We took the hint and repaired to the bar to make up for not having wine at lunch.

Tomorrow’s morning snorkel is supposed to be for everyone – a nice, easy beach snorkel. I’m looking forward to it!

We arrived at Dampier Port this morning at 7am and left the ship at 8:30 for a tour of the ancient petroglyphs in Murijuga National Park , led by Ngurrangga Tours, an Aboriginal-owned company.

They started the tour by formally welcoming us to Country and asking the elders for permission to take us on the tour; permission was granted in the form of a breeze, and we were off.

The petroglyphs in the park may be as old as 60,000 years; some are as new as 200 years. The one above means “everyone welcome”.

The tour was fascinating; I hope to post more photos when I have better connectivity.

After we left the park, we went to the North West Venture Visitor Center; the North West Venture is a major natural gas extraction operation (the economy of this area is very heavily based on extractive industries, including gas, iron ore, and salt; we were only the second cruise ship to visit in recent years). They served us a very nice morning tea (there was no actual tea, but the drinks and snacks were good). The displays mostly talked about the economic benefits of the gas industry, the science of gas, the engineering of the operation, and some geology; there were a few mentions of the environmental impact of the operation, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t see the words “climate change”.

Our final stop was a quick trip to the Dampier Lookout to admire the view and learn about Red Dog (who was, among other things, a fully paid-up member of the Transport Workers Union).

We returned to the ship for a light lunch and a short sail to a nearby anchorage, where we’ll have a lecture on the James Webb Space Telescope and Early Galaxies, dinner, and some stargazing.