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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
As told to Katie Cunningham

A day at the beach: ‘I’m screaming through my snorkel … I didn’t think I’d ever get to see one’

Jacinta Shackleton at the diving ramp at The Spit on the Gold Coast.
‘The ocean really is a very special place’: Great Barrier Reef guide/marine biologist Jacinta Shackleton. Photograph: Paul Harris/The Guardian

Every day, I probably spend three or four hours in the water on the Great Barrier Reef. I work as a reef guide-slash-marine biologist on Lady Elliot Island, so I do all the snorkelling tours and reef walking tours. I’ve been really lucky while I’ve been working out there: I’ve seen a lot of rare stuff, probably because I spend so much time out there. I’ve spotted ornate eagle rays and tiger sharks; I snorkelled with a great white two weeks ago.

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