Lonely Planet, a leading destinations authority has named Tasmania’s Bay of Fires as the best destination for 2009.
To be released in November of this year, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2009 features 850 of the world’s hottest travel trends and experiences, and emerging destinations.
Rated number one in the guidebook‘s ’10 Must-See Regions for 2009′, Tasmania’s Bay of Fires is recognised as a secret, untapped holiday destination.
Listed ahead of France and Spain’s beautiful Basque Country and Chile’s ancient Chiloe, the Bay of Fires is praised for its picturesque and pristine landscapes, its cute cottages, its guided hikes and its sensational suppers.
“White beaches of hourglass-fine sand, Bombay Sapphire sea, an azure sky — and nobody. This is the secret edge of Tasmania, laid out like a pirate’s treasure map of perfect beach after sheltered cove, all fringed with forest, ” the bible of hot destinations for 2009 says.
A Trichopeltarion crab
Scientists have found 274 new species of corals, starfish, sponges, shrimps, and crabs two kilometres beneath the surface of the ocean around Antarctica.
“We know very little about the deep sea,” said lead scientist Nic Bax, a marine biologist with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Hobart, Tasmania.
“Finding out how much live coral is down there, and how large those communities are, is very exciting,” he added.
A new species of sea star, or starfish
Some of the corals were found to be about 2,000 years old, said Bax.
CSIRO made the discoveries in two separate voyages to marine reserves located 100 to 200 nautical miles off the southern coast of the island of Tasmania, Australia.
Using powerful cameras, scientists shot 8,000 pictures and more than 100 hours of video footage of the seafloor.
They also discovered 145 undersea canyons and 80 new seamounts, or underwater mountains.
A new species of Ophiomitrella brittle star
New species of Plesionika shrimp found at depth of 2km
