Bumphead parrotfish

Sources disagree. ZuBlu lists schooling bumpheads on the Liberty as a current feature; a later field account states the resident school disappeared during the COVID period and has not reliably returned. Encoded conservatively as unreliable in all months pending verification. Historically a dawn sighting on the wreck, and one of the two real reasons to stay locally rather than day-trip.

Open year-round. Shore diving in a sheltered bay with resident operators, so there is no season closure and no fleet to reposition. Wet season (Dec-Feb) costs visibility, not access.

Trips run year-round but the crossing is the constraint: 20 hours of open ocean each way means the Coral Sea leg is dropped or rerouted in weather far more often than the sheltered Ribbon Reefs are. Dec-Feb is cyclone season in the region, hence 'limited'. Low operating