These aerial (drone) scenes include Kings Beach, Wickham Headland, Shelly Beach, Moffat Headland, Pumicestone Passage, Bribie Island, the Glasshouse Mountains (in the background), and Caloundra – on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.

Kings Beach 2AM 0424-0425 panorama stitch ©Andrew McInnes. All Rights Reserved.

The sea-sawdust slicks on the water surface in the following images is likely Trichodesmium sp. – a cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), and is also called whale food, sea scum and, incorrectly, whale sperm. Found in nutrient-poor tropical and subtropical ocean waters, Trichodesmium are ‘nitrogen fixers’- they can take nitrogen gas from the air and ‘fix’ it in a form that can be transferred through the food chain. This function is very important as Nitrogen is essential to life and while there is an abundance of it in the air (air is 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen), most plants and animals can’t make use of it in that form.

Wickham Point 2AM 0434-0437 panorama stitch ©Andrew McInnes. All Rights Reserved.

Trichodesmium 2AM-000408 ©Andrew McInnes. All Rights Reserved.

Trichodesmium 2AM-000419 ©Andrew McInnes. All Rights Reserved.

Trichodesmium 2AM-000422 ©Andrew McInnes. All Rights Reserved.

Cheers 🙂