Listen to Dinosaurs in Australia!

Dinosaurs calling in Kakadu?
Well, maybe! Listen in! HD 
The sounds are the calls of the Sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) defending their territory - slowed down 150%!

Take a look at  the Earth Minute we posted back on Thursday, July 16, 2015.  Remember: Sulfur-crested Cockatoo on the Defense (Kakadu, Australia)  when a common brush-tailed possum (Trichosurus vulpecula arnhemensis) disturbed the birds?

 

Also Take a Wildlife Cruise on the Yellow Water, Kakadu (birds and saltwater crocodiles)

• More Australian Earth Minutes
• Flying Fox Bats in Cairns
• Spotting a Lace Monitor in the Wild

Meet The Platypus - Duck Bills and Fur from Down Under

2 unusual sisters swim in Sydney harbor's beautiful aquarium.

Ornithorhynchus anatinus - the platypus belongs to a sub-group of mammals (monotremes) that lay eggs instead of bearing live young.

Not much is cuter than the duck-billed platypus!

Watch their bright white eyelids close as they use their webbed front feet and beaver-like tail to dive and swim under the water! The platypus closes its eyes, ears, and nose each time it dives. 

 

Using electroreceptors on its bill, it can sense the faint electrical signals generated by muscular contractions of its prey- freshwater shrimps, tiny annelid worms and insect larvae.

Share another EarthMinute from Sydney Aquarium with a rare marine mammal, the dugong (Dugong dugon).

 

 Swim over to The Earth Minute each week for a new one-minute adventure.

Along with echidnas, Platypuses are grouped in a separate order of mammals known as monotremes - See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Platypus/#sthash.kfACwoOf.dpuf

Along with echidnas, Platypuses are grouped in a separate order of mammals known as monotremes - See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Platypus/#sthash.kfACwoOf.dpuf

Australia Great Barrier Reef Swim

Swimming over the Great Barrier Reef!

 22 nautical miles from Cairns, Queensland,
is Michaelmas Cay.

 North Queensland, Australia.

HD

Yes, we were each wearing a "stinger suit" to protect us from jellyfish as we went snorkeling over the reef.

We used VisitCairns.com/au  and   

Seastar Cruises, and they were so great and knowledgeable!  

 

See more on Michaelmas Cay at TheEarthMinute.com!

See Natural Art on a Tropical Australian Beach

Who is making art on this remote beach at Cape Tribulation?

These dots of sand are reminiscent of Aboriginal dot art, but these artists are crustaceans.

Sand dabbler crabs (Dotilla sp) feed by filtering microscopic organic matter out of the sand. As they feed they roll a scoop of sand into a ball and deposit it outside of their hole.

The arrangement of sand balls, wet and dry, near and far, creates an image that is unique and plastic. What you see, depends on your point of view.

Visit each week to see a new The Earth Minute.

See the monitor lizard just beyond this beach.

Spotting a Lace Monitor in the Wild

Sometimes a simple walk to the beach can be an adventure.

 
We encountered this lace monitor (Varanus varius) in the coastal forest at Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia. We were privileged to observe its natural behavior–sensing the presence of prey and other monitors, and also marking its territory. Definitely an Earth Minute.

See more of Queensland Australia:
Watch Green Ants
Sea Birds on Great Barrier Reef
Flying Foxes

Flying Foxes in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia

See flying foxes with an over 2 foot wingspan in
Cairns, North Queensland, Australia!

 These very large fruit-eating bats Pteropus sp. roost downtown in Cairns in giant ficus and eucalyptus trees. 

 You can hear them chattering and fanning themselves to keep cool from several blocks away.

Here's more information on the bats!

http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/41675/FlyingFox_Fact_Sheet.pdf

Watch Green Tree Ants, Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia

Green tree ants (Oecophylla 
smaragdina) are found through out the tropical rainforest of northern Queensland, Australia. They are occasionally referred to as weaver ants as they form large leafy nests fastened together by strands of silk secreted by their own larvae.
 These large ants range in size from 4-10 mm in length. These green ants were about 7mm - over a quarter of an inch long.
This HD video and audio were recorded in Cape Tribulation in Tropical North Queensland, Australia on the railing of our bungalow in the rainforest. Listen for the sounds of the rainforest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaver_ant