Nurse Sharks and Sting Rays

Saturday

7.5.2008

At 5:01am I suddenly awoke and it was already getting light outside. I went out on a nearby peer and watched the sunrise. The sky was a spectacular light show of strips of light and dark, orange and purple. Allen, Reid and I ate breakfast around 7am. At 9am Brad, Reid, Allen, Carver, and I headed out onto a dock to wait for our boat that would take us to Hol Chan Cut and Shark Ray Alley to spend the next few hours snorkeling. Zac went by himself on a fishing tour around the reef and Coach K went windsurfing (see photo below).

Our tour of the reef was beyond belief. I will upload photos once I get my underwater disposable camera developed. We should have some amazing shots. First we went snorkeling from depths between 5-30 feet along the coastal side of the reef. The current and wind were strong and the waves pretty choppy. When the sun came out it lit up the beautiful, crystal clear waters. We split into two groups and our guide pointed out numerous fish, urchins and anemoenes. Within a minute of entering the water a four foot nurse shark passed me on his way through the sea grass. At a "cave" our guide dove down and dropped some chum to coax the morae eel out of its den! I was lagging behind our group and suddenly caught sight of Allen (who is PADI certified) dive down and grasp for a sea turtle, who politely brushed him off and glided away into the turquoise waters. Later on I passed a lone barricuda and our guide pointed out an octopus who had squeezed himself into a small hole like some underwater magician in a top hat.
After a short Fanta break our boat headed to the famous Shark Ray Alley. Our awesome guide and captain instructed us on the way there. He threw a tube filled with chum into the 7 foot deep water and left the engine humming like a dinner bell for the saltwater locals. Immediately about five five-foot nurse sharks, several enormous sting rays, and other large fish were swarming below our boat. We all jumped in. By chance I plunged in next to our instructor and I was the first one to hold the nurse shark that he had coaxed up to him. He grabbed my arm and put it firmly around the five-foot nurse shark. The shark was docile like a pet dog, his underbelly was soft and white and his brown back felt like a basketball. For the next twenty minutes everyone from our excursion swarmed around the boat with the schools of sharks, fish, and rays. The instructor started showing off and grabbed an enormous ray, four-feet in diameter, and spun it around in circles on the top of his head like a saucer. He even dove down and let the ray sit on the back of his head. I guess he has never heard of the Crocodile Hunter! He helped us all get photo ops with the nurse sharks. They seemed to like being flipped upside down, cradled, and petted on their white underbellies.


In the afternoon Brad, Carver, and I grabbed some local fare for lunch. I went wandering and on the way home down the beach I ran into everybody. Coach K gave me windsurfing lessons. I never became a pro but I had some brilliant moments. The afternoon slipped away lazying around the hotel and we all dined at Caramba's Restaurant. Josh, our newest rotation for the week, arrived around 4pm. We told stories from the week at dinner, laughed, and shared. I ate a tasty shrimp salad but I put too much habanero sauce on it and I drank a banana smoothie to try to staunch the burn on my tingling lips.

-AR