Moments D689: Underwater Screams

Today, EQ took a bunch of us snorkeling!   What a glorious morning it was!  Blue skies with puffy clouds mirrored upon the aqua waters.   The eight of us were eager to get into the water and explore!

And explore we did!  For over an hour, seven of us in the water explored the depths of the coral reef just North of the resort.  Pepper was our guide and he was a lot of fun as he tried to make our time in the water special.  He was obviously very comfortable in the water and the reef.  He was constantly lifting rocks and shells to show us what was hiding beneath.  Under one of the rocks lifted, there was a starfish.  He pulled it from the rock and ocean floor and  let it go near the surface.  We watched as it fluttered in the waves and back to the sandy floor below. He showed us sea eggs, and marbles, and at one point he even took my hand and we chased a stingray.

But, the best moment, by far, was when Pepper convinced me to touch one of the soft looking corals on the reef.  Now, I come from a mentality of "look, don't touch", but he was flitting about so confidently and I had begun to trust him.  I figured, why not?  I could gently touch this coral, right?

And so, I dove down with him, and gently touched the soft coral.  When I realized that my fingers were stuck in the coral, I screamed!  MY FINGERS WERE STUCK!  "AAAAARRRGGGG"  When I touched the sticky coral, it grabbed me and held on! It was like a bad horror film moment!

With a firm tug, of course, the coral let me go.

As Pepper and I surfaced for air, we were both laughing hard.  Topside, he explained to me, my cousin and EQ who were within earshot, that this coral was food for seahorses.   After the laughter all-around subsided, I watched my cousin dive down and experience the same sticky coral as it grabbed her fingers.  While she didn't scream as I did, you could tell she was still surprised at just how sticky it was!

Moments that surprise you.

Moments that make you laugh big and deep.

Moments D613: Takes a chillin' and keeps on swimmin'

Okay, the title of today's blog is not nearly as catchy as "...takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'...", but it gets my point across and it makes me laugh.  That counts, right?

Today my parents, EQ and I spent part of the day snorkelling in the waters around Nassau.  Only a three hour tour (no joke!) as our day in Nassau was a short one.  That didn't stop us from enjoying a cooler, partially cloudy day in the water surrounded by many, many, brightly coloured fish of all shapes and sizes.

Me - I was chilled on the boat ride out to the reef.  Absurd.  I know!  That said, it wasn't as warm as it had been in days past, the sun wasn't hot on our faces because of the coming and going clouds and I was a touch tired and drained feeling this morning.  All a good combination to create a slight chilled feeling.

That chill was not going to stop me from snorkelling today.  No way, no how.  I was ready for the promised 60 minutes in the water and come hell or high water I was going to enjoy every single second in the water.

I was not disappointed!  It was incredible.  I honestly wish I could share a snippet of my video with you, but I haven't had a chance to process the videos I took just yet.  But boy, oh boy did I have fun!  I chased schools of fish.  I dove and was up close and personal with different corals in the reef.  For awhile, I simply floated in the waves and watched the marine life do their thing below me.

And I had goosebumps the entire time.  Yes.  That's right, as soon as I hit the water my body exploded into goosebumps.  I ignored them.  And I was good for about 45 minutes at which point I admitted to EQ that I was cold.  He nearly convinced me to get out at that point.  Instead, we swam off and enjoyed the reef for another 10 minutes or so.  

And then I was really, truly cold through to my bones.  My teeth chattered as I swam.  I found EQ, and told him it was time, that I needed to get out of the water.  We weren't the last to board the boat (darn it all!), but we certainly weren't the first either.  

My chattering teeth were with me the entire boat ride home.  I was curled up in EQ's arms, in the partial sun/cloud, covered up in two dry (now damp) towels and shivering.  I couldn't help but laugh.

I used to do that as a kid all the time.  Swim until my teeth started to chatter.  I haven't been like that in years.  It felt good.  I felt alive.  And I've made myself a promise.  In the next two years, I'm going to learn how to scuba.  It's been on my list of things to learn for some time and after the past two snorkelling trips, I'm inspired.  It's time to shuffle that up closer to the top of my "to do" list!

Moments ignoring body discomfort and focusing on the joy of nature.

Moments that take you back in time to relive younger days.

Moments - D39; Shrimp hugs

Today’s moment bright a smile to me at the strangest time.

Today I watched a shrimp and a fish be friendly with one another. The fish was nestling into the shrimp’s antennae. It looked as though the shrimp were petting/stroking the fish.

At first I thought I was crazy. Why would this be happening. Surely I was projecting and humanizing the shrimp and fish.

But I watched for a good long time (I do love aquariums!). At one point the shrimp moved to another part of the tank. It didn’t take long for the fish to follow and nestle itself back into the shrimp’s antennae again, where it stayed and was petted by the shrimp.

A beautiful, strange moment between a fish and shrimp.

A moment I had to share.