Coral Sold Coral Underwater at Australia's Island Observatory

Imagine answering the phone at work with "G'day, Coral here" while fish swim past your window and tourists peer through glass walls at the ocean floor. That was Coral Wedd's reality from 1980 to 1982 at the Middle Island Underwater Observatory off Great Keppel Island in Queensland, Australia.

The joke never got old. "Not very many people go overseas to work each day under water by the name of Coral," she laughs four decades later, remembering how Coral would sell coral to tourists beneath the waves.

The observatory opened on September 25, 1980, fulfilling the dream of Yeppoon man Jim Nimmo and his wife Sheena. Built on land by local firm Goodies Engineering, the 10-meter-wide structure was filled with 500 tonnes of ballast, floated out to sea, and set down six meters below the surface on piles driven into the seabed.

What made it special were the windows. Unlike traditional observatories with small portholes, Middle Island featured six-foot windows that gave visitors an unobstructed view of marine life. Operators fed fish twice daily, keeping them close while tourists watched in wonder.

At its peak, 200 tourists would load onto boats daily from Rockhampton, cruising the Keppel Islands with the underwater observatory as the star attraction. Inside, Wedd worked in what she believes was Australia's only underwater souvenir shop.

The observatory witnessed life's most profound moments. Just a month after opening, staff moved souvenirs aside to host Mark William Heslin and Sharee Anne Newland's underwater wedding on October 11, 1980. "It was quite a novelty," Wedd recalls.

In a bittersweet ceremony, the observatory also became a final resting place. A young man who had visited and fallen in love with the marine life tragically died in an accident. His parents asked if his ashes could be scattered nearby, and the observatory's diver planted them under a rock in the sand while the parents watched from the windows.

Sunny's Take

There's something beautifully human about how we mark our most important moments. This underwater observatory wasn't just a tourist attraction but a place where people chose to celebrate love and honor loss, surrounded by the quiet wonder of ocean life. Coral Wedd didn't just sell souvenirs; she witnessed how a creative engineering feat became a backdrop for human connection.

The observatory closed in 2008 when the Great Keppel Island Resort shuttered. But for those who experienced it during its heyday, the memories remain crystal clear, like those six-foot windows looking out into the Pacific's blue depths.