I've "always" loved diving. I was introduced to SCUBA at the tender age of thirteen on board the sail training schooner Tabor Boy during a trip to Bermuda, and have been diving ever since, in the Carribean, Florida, New England, and more recently, in Mexico. Pictured below are some of my favorite large "critters".
Great Barracuda: Despite their fearsome dentition, barracudas are very curious creatures, and I've never felt threatened by them in any way. There was one occasion off Necker Island in the US Virgins, when I lifted my head to locate a companion while snorkling. When I looked down again, there were three five foot barracudas inches away from my legs, just hanging motionless in the water. That gave me a moment's pause to reflect on vulnerability in the ocean!
Sharks: I've got a very healthy respect for these magnificent creatures, and have encountered nurse sharks, black tip reef sharks and one hammerhead while diving. They do increase my pulse rate! While on a swordfishing trip many years ago about fifty miles southeast of Nantucket Island, we harpooned a mako shark to deliver it for study at the Woods Hole Oceangraphic Institute, and I've seen a six foot blue shark bite off fully half of a thirty pound tuna we had hooked on rod and reel. I'll leave the close encounters with sharks to those that want to seek them out, and simply enjoy the glimpse of the occasional predator that might swim by.
Morays and other eels: These snakelike creatures are alway graceful and beautiful, but boy do they have a lot of teeth! I love seeing them while diving, especially when one ventures out of it's home, and can be seen swimming freely. Fortunately, unless you really work at provoking one, they are usually shy, and seldom aggressive!
Turtles: Green Turtle "very mysterious, mon". Green turtles, loggerheads, Ridleys, hawksbills: these are some of the most graceful and beautiful creatures in the sea, and swimming with them is always a treat to be enjoyed.
The video below has some great footage of a turtle in Cozumel this year.
This
QuickTime Movie is courtesy of Chuck Williams.
