Mike Dixon

The boat continued to drift forward and the bottom gave
way to a series of low terraces. Then the cliff-like outer edge
of the reef appeared. David remained hooked over the side.
He‟d not bothered to use his snorkel and was holding his
breath. Tim figured the kid must have out-sized lungs and a
huge amount of self-control. He could keep it up for minutes
on end.
David took his head from the water.
„It‟s just like in the books.‟
„What‟s that, mate?‟
„The drop off … it goes down like it‟s a cliff.‟
„Yeah,‟ Tim nodded. „Most of them are like that. They
come straight up then
you‟ve got the reef flat
on top. I don‟t know
why they‟re like that
but they are. I‟ve seen
hundreds.‟
„It‟s because of the
way they w e re
formed.‟
David‟s face was animated.
„I‟ve read about it. In the Ice Age it was dry land out
here. That‟s because sea levels were lower. The water was
locked up in Antarctica. Then the ice melted and the sea
rose. That was only 12 000 years ago so there would have
been people around. There was a flat plane and a whole lot
of hills that ran down the coast. They formed the core of
what is now the Great Barrier Reef …‟
Tim listened as David rattled on. The kid was interested
in science and things like that. He‟d got good grades at
school and gone to uni. But he‟d not stuck to it. He‟d
dropped out and his grandfather had put up the money for
the dive shop.
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