Description: Manatee! Manatee! And another manatee! Three of them were swimming near our boat even before we anchored and suited up. Our group hurriedly jumped in the water to follow Carlos. We were only a few yards away from them! Carlos led us to them but stopped us so as not to scare them. We stayed still, floating as the boy and I grinned at each other behind our masks. We watched the large, placid sea cows swim lazily, nuzzle each other, and rise to the surface for air.
We were part of a larger group of snorkelers today, mainly Americans and a couple from New Zealand. The rest of our snorkeling trip at Hol Chan, we saw more widlife than the previous day. There were crabs, parrot fish, lobsters, the cutest groupers, and plenty of yellowtails! We even swam with a sea turtle!
Swimming in a marine reserve, we appreciate the beauty of marine life in their natural surroundings. But rather than thinking of conservation, swimming with the fish had an unintended effect: we were thinking about consumption. As perverse as it sounds, seeing those fish only made us hungry. You know how the waiter in a Chinese restaurant will show you your fish before cooking it to demonstrate its freshness? There´s no better display of freshness of your seafood than a fish that swims or a crab that crawls.
Carlos let us off at San Pedro for lunch. We were to meet after a couple of hours at the dock to proceed to the last leg of our trip: the nurse shark stop.
A dark cloud was hovering over Caye Caulker when we met up at the docks. Carlos knew the storm was heading this way and decided we would let it pass by waiting another hour. It did and it was furious! The boats rocked and the water rose. The rain was warm, but we wondered how we were going to cross the channel with such strong winds.
When it let up, we continued to the nurse shark stop closer to the Caye. The strong winds continued. As soon as Carlos stopped the engine, our boat was surrounded by sharks and yellowtails. Plenty of them! I could hardly put my mask on in excitement. I realized I really needed to pay attention and secure my life jacket because of the current. I watched the boy excitedly jump into the water and be surrounded by the nurse sharks right away, thinking he was the man with the food.
It seemed insane to be snorkeling while sharp rain drops pelted our backs, but it was much warmer underwater than staying in the boat and battling the strong winds with only a wet towel.
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