as the tide turns

Friday, things went better.

We went out for our 2nd time with Fish & Fins snorkeling.

The first stop required a backward roll off the side of the boat, something I'd never done before. I did it, but it was disorienting... not my favorite way to get into the water. The site had both a shallow side and a very deep drop off, and the current carried us along the edge between the two zones.  I was having trouble with my new mask fogging up, with snot just streaming out of my sinuses, and fighting the desire to rub my eyes... but despite these problems, I managed to see some fish & coral, including a handful of trigger fish, who thankfully weren't guarding nests.

At our second spot, dive master Clint, showed us to an area where two cuttlefish were guarding nests on a coral head. They blended in so well with the coral, I don't know how he ever found them. They were about the size of a human head and I could see their tentacles shimmering beneath them. I wasn't able to see their unusual eye though. E and I had swapped out masks, so that he could deal with all the fogging and I could concentrate on seeing fish.

The third site, called the New Drop Off, the divers went down and the snorkelers stayed shallow. It was here that I saw my first shark. A black tip reef shark- patroling his area. He circled around to check us out a couple times, but as he kept his teeth all covered up, he didn't appear threatening in the least.

We also snorkeled on the beach where we lunched, as the rest of the group went to jellyfish lake, and I have no desire to snorkel with them. I saw a turtle, and giant clams here. There were over 100 of the clams in an area between 2 buoys, they were being farmed there. They don't "do" anything except sit on the bottom, so you're just kind of noting the siphon and the green algae that lines the area between the two shells, and the various sizes of them. There is a second variety that was embedded in the coral. These were smaller and had purple between the two shells.

There were many colors of gobi fish guarding their holes. I spent a good 5 minutes watching the little shrimp use his claws like a bobcat and push out scoops of sand from inside the hole. Then he took and piece of shell and worked it over, tidying it up and placed it- carefully, it seemed- just outside the hole.