Whale Sharks Spotted

While we did not see whale sharks while scuba diving, two did get close enough to the surface between our dives for us to jump in with snorkels and have a look.  It was not the majestic encounter either of us had envisioned for the opportunity to admire such a magnificent animal, but it was still amazing and likely a once ... well twice in a lifetime moment.

Shortly after surfacing from a 52 minute dive along an outer reef the whale sharks frequent, we headed towards a congregation of tourist and local boats several hundred meters off the stern.  We arrived to a mess of boats and between 60 and 80 snorkelers in the water following a whale shark.  We jumped into the carnage and, after several blows from fins to the sides and noggin, there he was.  But only for about 15 seconds.  Some jackwagon dove down to try to touch the shark and off he went to the depths.

For those not aware, other than a blow from it's snout or tail by stupidly be in a position to receive it from this lazily swimming beast, a whale shark poses no danger.  They feed on plankton and their mouth funnels down to an opening the size of a quarter.  Other than the obvious reason of not disturbing them, I did learn another reason not to touch them from an Anderson Cooper interview of the kid who held onto the dorsal of one in a YouTube video which went viral.  I suspect it could be the last thing I learn from Anderson.  Whale sharks apparently have a slimy film layer that protects them from bacteria.  A human hand will remove this layer.

Another danger not covered in Anderson's segment is excitement.  An overly-excited tourist from another boat jumped in the water sans fins, lifejacket, and the ability to swim.  One of the scuba guides from out boat made the rescue missing out on the whale shark.  Our German head scuba instructor with a French accent quipped "should have left him to see the shark, survival of the fittest".  Joking of course, but probably not really.

Shortly after returning to the boat, another shark surfaced near where we had just completed our dive.  We raced down the reef to that shark to join the snorkel carnage once more.  This time nobody spooked it and we were able to follow him for a good distance.  Awesome despite the conditions.

Best picture I could get of the first whale shark before he went deep.

The rest are all the second whale shark.

Found this guy in our room after returning from our dive trip.
Apparently the resort leaves these for anybody whose seen a whale shark.

Certifiable

Having thoroughly enjoyed our first scuba dive, we decided to continue on with subsequent training, dives, and the exam to obtain our scuba certification.  The dives continued to be amazing.  You never know what encounters await and it seems as though your surroundings find you as often as you find them.  The only nervous moment came when we had to practice emergency techniques at a depth of 12 meters as opposed to where our head could break the surface with our feet in the sand.  Though Laura was not a huge fan of one maneuver, having trouble with it on two occasions in the shallow water, she breezed through it at 12 meters despite giving Atheef a beating trying to remain neutrally buoyant.  When we asked her how she handled her nerves with the exercises at depth, she mentioned death as a strong motivator.  She was in good hands.

There were also some nerves out of the water.  There was a test involved in obtaining certification, and you had to go 28 of 30 or better on 178 pages of material.  That's a lot of reading to do on a beach vacation.  Though different studying methods were employed, I'll let you guess who read ever last word of every page, we both passed.  I will tell you studying while sipping blue mojitos on a beach with an ocean breeze is the way to go.  If that were a college campus, I'd likely be working on my fourth doctorate in subject matter I needed the first three just to pronounce.

In all, we made five dives.  Two on the house reef, one on a reef about a 15 minute ride from the island, and the last two back out in whale shark territory.  We hounded the scuba crew all week to make a trip back out there.  Unfortunately we did not see a whale shark while scuba diving.  But ....

Studying for the big exam.  I won't tell you who aced it and who didn't.

Jumping in off the dive boat for another swim.

Laura and Atheef descending.

Anenome

Two lionfish near the center of the image,
you can just make out their spiky fins.

Right in the middle of a fast moving school of small fish.

Think they were running from the tuna that hung out near us.
The tuna is where that small bright strip is at the bottom center
of the picture.  They are very difficult to capture on camera.

Spotted unicornfish.  They are curious, often lingering
near us throughout dives on the house reef.

Starfish.  They look funny to me when clinging to the cliffside.

Clown triggerfish.  Neat looking guy that was a favorite of many.

We came across quite a few turtles and tried to
hang out with them as long as possible.

He was resting right beneath us during our 3
minute hold at 5 meters before surfacing.

Black-blotched porcupinefish

There is a mouray eel sticking his head out amongst
the rough coral near the center of this picture.

Another funny starfish.  Looks like he ate too much.

Oriental sweetlip.

Another turtle.  He was hard to spot amongst the table corals.

Laura practicing emergency procedures again, this time at
12 meters where quickly surfacing wasn't an option if you
screwed up.  Unfortunately Atheef took some abuse from her here
trying to maintain her buoyancy level through the exercises.

Me.

Me and LT sort of.

Atheef sending up the float for pickup from our last dive.

It's a tough climb out with the weight
of the tank and wet gear.

Certified.

Mirhi dive boat.

Sent Reeling

On vacation, we awoke at 5:30am to meet the fishing boat captain only to have him stand 30 meters from the water for roughly 12 seconds and determine the wind and surf were too much for the Typhoon to handle.  We rescheduled and gave it another go.

Successfully underway this time, we headed off for the deep water where they had recently landed sailfish, big tuna, and large barracuda and wahoo.  The adrenaline surged as the reel screamed on our first bite of the day while heading out, but what had to be a monster fish based on subsequent catches got off the hook.  As it turned out, the trip to the deep water was short lived.  Wind blowing the opposite direction of the current resulted in 4 to 5 meter swells which were not conducive to either fishing or a narrow, 40-foot, low horsepower, single prop boat.  The captain decided to bail and head to the calmer waters of the reefs.

It didn't take long trolling along the reef for the next bite to come, though it wasn't a big one.  After some debate amongst the crew as to whether in fact a fish was on the line, I jumped on the bench with the fishing pole belt and reeled in a small tuna.  Turns out it's actually called a "little tuna".  We thought he was going back in, but apparently he's on the larger size for what is found in the area and he wasn't going to make it anyway.

Laura donned the belt and took to the bench after another fish/no fish debate and reeled in another little tuna with considerable effort.  With two lines in the water, the blue reel on the port side of the boat was proving to be both lucky and incredibly difficult to reel in.

Finally a fish was hooked that put a bit of a run on the line.  Sure enough, blue reel on the port side.  I brought in a gorgeous coral grouper, slightly larger than the tuna, that was a fighter all the way.  I don't know that Schwarzenegger in his prime could have landed a much larger fish on the blue reel, it was brutal.  I asked the crew how they told the big fish to get on the much more substantial and smooth gold reel, the sarcasm didn't translate.

The three fish ended up being the haul from a beautiful morning on the water.  I was able to sample each for lunch, both delicious, while Laura indulged in a specially prepared chicken breast.

Sun rising on the open water.

Aboard the fishing/sea plane transfer boat, the Typhoon.

Crew setting up the reels.  Even though they went
back and forth after a catch, occasional crossed
line, etc., always the blue reel on the port side.

Laura and her breakfast getting rocked from the
large swells with another forming behind her.

After the what was likely a very large fish got off the hook.

You can make out the edge of the reef from the change
in the water.  Somewhat wavy/choppy water
makes a change to absolute calm beyond the reef.

Reeling in fish #1 ... maybe

That's a little tuna

LT on the line for fish #2 ... maybe

Gotta be something on there with that kind of struggle

Little tuna #2, she's not allowed to touch

The coral grouper

He's a cool looking fish

Lunch