Star Fish
Starfish are a favourite of Justine McMahon ( a Dive Instructor trainee with Islandive), She promises to show you these colourful marine animals on most dive sites in the Whitsundays. There are many different types of starfish found around the Islands. They come in a variety of colours and forms.The brittle stars are famously known for loosing limbs which will then grow back. They can even break in half and they will form two separate starfish simply growing back the lost limbs.
Featherstars
Another gorgeous family of starfish are the feather stars. those impresive creatures have colourfull feather like legs they use to move and feed. when swimming, amazingly, they manage to move almost one leg at a time (they got dosens of legs!), an unforgetteble show.
Sea Cucumbers
Sea cucumbers are another type of Echinoderm, you will find these on the sea floor.  They are called sea cucumbers because of their shape and leather like skin.  They are extremely common in the Whitsunday Islands and you are always likely to see one on the seabed during a dive.  They are scavengers of the sea and feed on debris.  Sea cucumber breathe by drawing water in through their anus and expelling it as their respitory glands are found in their anus.  Sea cucumber have a symbiotic relationship with a pearl fish.  The pearl fish lives inside the sea cucumbers anus and cleans away parasites that enter it.  Pearl fish have also been known to eat the gonads of a sea cucumbers, but luckily for the Sea Cucumber it is an Echinoderm so they grow back!
Xmas tree Worms
When diving and snorkelling in the Whitsunday's you will often spot the extremely colourful Christmas Tree Worms, they are usually borrowed into hard coral like Luna coral.
The Christmas tree worm gets its name from being Christmas tree-shaped.  It is tube-dwelling worm with magnificent twin spirals of plumes used for feeding and respiration. They come in many colours including orange, yellow, blue, red and white. Though they are small with an average 3.8cm in span they are easily spotted due to their shape, beauty, and colour.