Our Last Day of Diving (and Videos)
06.12.2010
We had only one day of diving left and it was scheduled for the Wednesday before our departure. The staff wanted us to be able to go on a tour of a villiage on Qamea that same day, so they scheduled the dive for 7:30am with the tour after our return. Unlike on other days, the water was calm as we headed out early on Wednesday.
Bale took his place on the nose of the boat where he would consider the tide, time, currents, visibility and other factors that influence the display of soft coral and the selection of the ideal dive sight.
And Horace was at the helm.
We weren’t underwater long when we heard the familiar sound of Bale’s rattle. It’s an underwater signal that is used to get our attention, usually when he has spotted something that he wants us to see. This time he spotted a banded sea snake. Although they’re venomous, they’re very shy and non-aggressive, and their mouth is too small to effectively bite a human. We captured video and still pictures as it worked its way around the coral.
Over the past week, we had seen several white-tipped reef sharks, sometimes as close as 15 feet. They’re only about 5 feet long and are not typically aggressive. On this dive, Bale found a smaller one apparently sleeping under a large piece of coral. Only the tail was showing when he pointed it out. Bale stroked it on the tail and then began to gently pull it out from under the coral. The shark soon caught on to what was happening and began to thrash back and forth. Once it was free of the hole, it quickly turned its head around toward Bale’s hand. We never saw anyone let go of something so quickly. It swam away beneath Bale’s legs and assumed a normal shark-like cruising posture as it tried to regain its dignity.
We saw several more giant clams on this dive. They were as large as 16” across and in a variety of colors, including neon blue.
We also saw a couple of eels and a very large lobster. The feelers on the lobster were equal to the span of my arms – about six feet across.
At one point, Bale carefully picked up what we thought was a golden fern. When he set it down, it began to wrap its roots around a rock. It wasn’t until after the dive that we learned it wasn’t a fern at all, but rather an animal that looks like a fern. It’s known as a crinoid or "feather star".
Then there was the magic coral. It’s orange or brown in color until you tap it, and then it turns stark white to look like a dead coral. As soon as the threat has passed, it will regain its color. The one in this video wasn’t very orange to begin with, but you can still see it turn white.
Soon it was time to say goodbye to the underwater world and head up for the final time.
We went away amazed at the design of these underwater creatures and in awe of the designer. We will take with us many great memories from our diving in Fiji and our time with Bale, Horace and Big Joe.
