(underwater photo of me (right) and my son (left) snapped by a fellow snorkeler whose picture I took en route to the reef with iPhone, and emailed to him on the spot. he returned the favor, here.)
I’ve been blogging ecstatically about my new favorite sport, snorkeling, recently. Because the springs are just easier to get to from Atlantic Beach, and the water is so crisp and clear, it’s been fun knowing that I can snorkel even if I’m not somewhere truly tropical. So when we took an impromptu long weekend to Islamorada recently, I immediately booked two snorkeling charters for myself. Oh, the euphoria of swimming over a gorgeous living reef, amongst fish of such magnificent colors and sizes! The coral! The spiny lobster, hiding between the rocks! Who am I kidding? Springs snorkeling and reef snorkeling are incomparable. Sure, I wear a mask, snorkel and fins in both bodies of water, but that is where the similarity ends. I stand by my springs, to be sure, but the salt life* is a call that runs deep within and not a day has passed since coming home that I haven’t ruminated about when I can return to those waters.
I left the camera behind, but what fun it would have been to have gotten some pictures of the fish I saw traveling along the reef. And then there was this stunning hawksbill sea turtle, that I swam along with for about ten minutes as he made his way around the Chica Rocks reef. This is a photo of a painting I took with permission of the artist that depicts the turtle I swam with:
I excitedly motioned to a nearby couple from our boat, to come and see this beautiful turtle. Noisily, they swam over and the boy-man of the couple boisterously tried to dive down, attempting to grab the turtle. I was appalled. The turtle appeared nonplussed and continued to move along the reef and I swam with him, away from this overeager snorkeler until I could no longer hear him underwater. Isn’t there an etiquette to the sport that frowns upon excessive noisiness and touching the coral and sea life aggressively? Or am I just getting fussier by the day?
Fortunately we were a small group of snorkelers and I was able to move away from them, and soon I was enjoying a solitary swim. So I was alone when I peered down and saw the long shark, about five to six feet, rooting around the reef in search of…friends? Food? Me? Oddly, I felt nothing beyond that first moment recognition: “oh my gosh, that’s a shark.”
I observed him for a few minutes, astounded that I really was seeing a shark. Not a small, nurse shark, like my son has caught on his fishing line, which was thrilling enough, but a big shark, out on the reef, and as long as a grown man is tall, slender rather than stocky. I was not afraid. The shark was not aware of me, and I could see that he was busy perusing the reef, and just didn’t feel that he’d regard me as a threat, or a potential meal. I admit that I didn’t purposefully swim along with him the way I’d done with the turtle, no. I gazed at him for a few minutes, but annoyingly my mask kept fogging, so I swam off and continued snorkeling until they called us back to the boat. The dive master told me that such a shark sighting wasn’t common; perhaps one in every 500 snorkelers will see a big one like that. Nurse sharks are far more common and sure enough, I saw one of those, too. I immediately recognized it as a nurse shark; it was about two feet long and relaxing on the reef’s sandy floor.
On the ride back to shore I felt so happy. The trip to the Keys was a last minute idea, and everyone got to pursue their passions during the four-day visit. Snorkeling is my call; to see such amazing things under the sea is completely thrilling, and the view was one that only a salty sea can offer.
*check out http://www.saltlife.com the local company I mentioned earlier whose cool designs I love. they originated here in our area and i’m very excited about their expansion; would love to be an official part of it, but in the meantime, go here and have a look at their apparel if you love the life as i do.
**due to Blogger issues, I’ve not been able to make ‘live links’; sorry.
oh, to be able to join you…
…how cool is that?!!! sorry about the over eager man-boy…i like that term…it appears to me that you actually embraced and became part of your surroundings…one with it…he simply observed never leaving his own bubble…you my friend experinced what the "saltlife" is all about! xo,mickey
It's an amazing world down there, isn't it? I would go snorkeling every day if I could… lucky you, to have crisp, clear water so close.
Sweet day,
~Julia
You are definitely right in your element in that delightful underwater world… I'm thinking you must be a real life mermaid!
I adore snorkeling and love to do some freediving too! This is a wonderful story, I'd love to go right away, if I could. Going to meet a mermaid real!
Love you all!
Peter