This morning started out quite dreary and windy. On the drive to Port Allen I was wondering if we would even be able to go out. The day before was very windy, occasional heavy rains, high surf, and strong ocean currents. We checked around and decided to take out the scheduled two divers from Ontario, Aileen and Brenda. And what a day it was. We all had huge smiles attesting to the wonders of the day.
As we headed out to Hale O' Honu East, we did encounter a pod of four whales. They put on a magnificent show breaching their way past us. That alone would have made the day quite exceptional but unbeknown to us, we had more wonders in store for us.
As I moored the boat up I could see two huge green sea turtles just hanging out at the cleaning station 40 feet down. Visibility was on our side. Luckily they were still there as my divers descended down the line. We swam around and saw numerous Lionfish, Yellowmargin eels, and white mouth eels. Those were the standout creatures in addition to countless tropicals crowding the reef.
After a short surface interval we motored a very short distance to the next site, Hale O'Honu West. East has more dramatic geological underwater features, but West has it's own impressive number of ledges and marine life. I took Aileen and Brenda on a tour of the reef making sure to check under the ledges. As I was busy poking under the ledges I saw my divers' attention focused on something a short distance away. They had spotted a rather large stingray. It was an impressive size and was accommodating enough to swim slowly and let us take a good long look at it's graceful movements. As we were moving away from the stingray and back toward the ledges a large white streak caught my eye. With Aileen and Brenda following me we came up on a seal. WOW!!!!!!! It was busy checking under the ledge for something, then slowly backed out, stared at us straight on, and then continued to swim along the ledge and eventually out of sight. That was my first seal sighting, as well as theirs. We swam merrily along just happy about what we had just witnessed only to be awestuck again. This time we encountered a beautiful whitetip reef shark. It swam around for a lengthy period time allowing us a close look. The divers were smiling so much I was surprised that their masks were not flooding.
We all had an incredible day. I'm glad I got to share my fist seal sighting with two enthusiastic divers. Today's dives remind me why I love what I do and the wonderful gift of amazement nature gives to us all if we slow down and take a closer look.
As we headed out to Hale O' Honu East, we did encounter a pod of four whales. They put on a magnificent show breaching their way past us. That alone would have made the day quite exceptional but unbeknown to us, we had more wonders in store for us.
As I moored the boat up I could see two huge green sea turtles just hanging out at the cleaning station 40 feet down. Visibility was on our side. Luckily they were still there as my divers descended down the line. We swam around and saw numerous Lionfish, Yellowmargin eels, and white mouth eels. Those were the standout creatures in addition to countless tropicals crowding the reef.
After a short surface interval we motored a very short distance to the next site, Hale O'Honu West. East has more dramatic geological underwater features, but West has it's own impressive number of ledges and marine life. I took Aileen and Brenda on a tour of the reef making sure to check under the ledges. As I was busy poking under the ledges I saw my divers' attention focused on something a short distance away. They had spotted a rather large stingray. It was an impressive size and was accommodating enough to swim slowly and let us take a good long look at it's graceful movements. As we were moving away from the stingray and back toward the ledges a large white streak caught my eye. With Aileen and Brenda following me we came up on a seal. WOW!!!!!!! It was busy checking under the ledge for something, then slowly backed out, stared at us straight on, and then continued to swim along the ledge and eventually out of sight. That was my first seal sighting, as well as theirs. We swam merrily along just happy about what we had just witnessed only to be awestuck again. This time we encountered a beautiful whitetip reef shark. It swam around for a lengthy period time allowing us a close look. The divers were smiling so much I was surprised that their masks were not flooding.
We all had an incredible day. I'm glad I got to share my fist seal sighting with two enthusiastic divers. Today's dives remind me why I love what I do and the wonderful gift of amazement nature gives to us all if we slow down and take a closer look.
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