wanderlust

the weekend was pretty relaxing as i wasn't assigned to assist on any classes yet. at first, it felt a little strange to not have something specific to do (there is a ton of reading i could be doing), but then i realized i should do what i came here for and got myself put on some fun dives.

yesterday morning i was on a boat going to the north side - these are the good boats to get on since the sites on that side of utila are generally better. usually, the class boats stay on this side of the island, so whenever there's an open spot on a north side boat, you should try to get on it. the first dive was at jack's bight and was beautiful - we swam through a coral canyon and the fish life was abundant and diverse.

on the way to the second dive, the boat slowed in the open ocean and we wondered what was going on. soon exciting news spread back to us - a possible whale shark sighting! whale sharks are the world's largest fish - they are sharks, not whales. the whale is more of an adjective describing the enormous size of these creatures (~12m in length, up to 18m!), as well as the fact that they are filter feeders like many whales. although they're enormous, they don't pose any danger to humans and have been even known to be playful with divers and snorkelers. here on utila, there is much research going on to help in their conservation and people are no longer allowed to dive with them, unless they have special training. there is absolutely no touching of the sharks allowed. if anyone gets caught trying to, they make you get back on the boat and leave immediately. check out the wikipedia page for more info as well as pictures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_shark

the captain had spotted a school of tuna which meant it was possible a whale shark could come to feed. he told us to get ready - we all put mask, fins, snorkel on and bunched at the back of the boat, an excited mass of people with fins poking in every direction. we had several false alarms and were constantly told to be ready to jump off the back. sitting there breathing in the boat engine fumes, we wondered if we'd see a whale shark even if there wasn't one, we were getting so high. then the captain shouted at us to go, go, go! i was one of the first people off the boat and was so excited i didn't even have my snorkel in my mouth, but all that was forgotten because i looked down through the deep blue water and underneath me was the spotted back of an enormous whale shark! it was truly magnificent, but started swimming away quickly as it realized we were there. we swam after it, but it was much faster and gradually the white spots disappeared as it descended beyond our reach.

we clambered back on the boat and sat ready for another encounter. the captain found the same shark as it was resurfacing and we hopped in again - this time i had my snorkel in and was closer to its front and could see its head. it was hard to gauge how big it really was, but then two guys from my boat skin dove beneath the surface and i could see that the shark was at least 5 or 6 times bigger than them. amazing.

after getting back on the boat, everyone had huge grins on their faces and chattered excitedly about how cool it was. the second dive was also great - i saw a stargazer (funny fish that gives off an electric charge and uses its pectoral fins as shovels to burrow into the sand) as well as a big (size of a cantaloupe) octopus. the octopus kept changing colors from pure white to mottled red - really cute.

all in all, a fantastic morning - now i just have to see an eagle ray and of course, a turtle. :)