Under the Sea

After many hours spent in the classroom or crammed in a tiny hotel pool, we were finally to the point in our scuba certification class that we got to dive in the ocean. Needless to say, we were pretty excited - and nervous. This time of year, all sorts of animals are out and about, especially gray nurse sharks.

We were told that the sharks are like "big Labradors" and that they wouldn't bother us. What our scuba instructor neglected to tell us is that he himself has a nice little scar on his back end courtesy of one of these Labradors.

So, Wednesday morning, we took a very bouncy boat trip out to Julian Rocks. This area is exactly what it sounds like: a bunch of big boulders that create a great habitat for marine life. We dove about 12 meters down on two 30 minute trips.

Above is a picture of a Carpet Shark. We saw several of these guys, and had to be careful not to accidentally hit one with a fin! They are obviously very well camouflaged. Unfortunately the visibility was very bad (4-5 meters) and the water was thick with sand, mud, and pieces of seaweed. Our instructor said that if we could dive in these conditions, we would be a pro at diving in "good" conditions. Either way, we still had a great time and saw some awesome animals.

On our first dive, right as we were getting comfortable with the cute starfish and sea anemones, our instructor started excitedly pointing to something in the distance. What do you know, it was a big gray nurse shark! Now this picture is NOT of the shark we saw (thank God) but this is the same species that another diver encountered at Julian Rocks. Yeah, looks just like a cuddly Labrador... NOT.

The snark we saw was significantly smaller than this one and for some reason was swimming with its mouth wide open. We later learned that this was probably because it was injured in some way - maybe stuck by a hook.



There were also lots of puffer fish. These guys look small, but are actually a good 1.5 - 2 ft long. In addition to these, we saw a loggerhead turtle (think Finding Nemo), a green turtle, clown fish, sea urchins, and many other fish I don't know the names of. I also could have swore I heard a whale singing... but it could have just been wishful thinking.






Here is a picture of our smiling faces after the first dive. We can't wait to dive again!

Thanks to Rusty, Kelly, and Megan for the pictures!