I didnt think today was
going to get any better after yesterday seeing dolphins underwater followed
by my first encounter with 2 sailfish.... how wrong was I. One of the many
reasons why I love my job, you just never know what to expect….
Today was perfect weather
for snorkeling. The sea was like glass, you didn’t really even have to get in
the water as you could see everything the reef had to offer just by looking
down from the sailing dhoni. It was like being on a glass bottom boat. However,
the water is so inviting you just have to get in. This is why in my opinion the
best time of year to come to the Maldives is always February and March, the sea
can be like glass most days with visibility for miles, its postcard perfect.
Any day when it’s like this
you know the snorkeling is going to be nice, its so peaceful under the water
and above. I have a turtle adventure snorkel trip with 6 guests. Turtle
Adventure is always amazing, I haven’t blogged about this trip yet but I will
soon. It’s an unique and beautiful experience as you get to see these ancient
marine reptiles up close. Often you can see lots of turtles as the reef we go
to is a feeding ground. They are generally very friendly, coming up to breathe
right in front of you, this alone is enough to blow the guests away as you
really do feel like you’re swimming with them in their natural environment.
Today we had one turtle, her name is Reina, yes lots of them have names as I
recognize them by their shell patterns and also by their unique scale pattern
on each side of the head. Often we see the same ones most trips. Anyway, Reina
followed us all the way up the reef just swimming right under us. It was
lovely. It had been a very nice snorkel, 6 turtles and 2 sharks and then we
hear a shout from the Captain, “Dolphins”!!! They were at the other end of the
reef and we could see their fins sticking out of the water, even though they
were far away it looked like there were lots in the water. It didn’t really
matter how far away they were, I think anyone would have started swimming
towards them, what is it about dolphins that everybody loves, was it the series
flipper or watching documentaries on tv, or maybe just remembering all those
times you had seen them at marine parks, jumping and flipping, their charismatic smiling
faces looking at you. However, seeing dolphins in the wild, in their natural
environment is just something else!
As we got closer they disappeared from the surface and went under. I told everyone to keep looking down, and then, there they all were, swimming right under us. I dived down and was shocked about how many there were, at least 40 or 50, all tossing and turning below us, awesome does not come close to a sight like this, I was blown away, so my guests must have been too. You could hear them as well chatting amoung themselves, don’t really know how to describe how dolphins sound, its like a faint high-pitched whistle with clicking sounds. We followed them for 15 minutes out into the blue. Some of them were definitely checking us out as well, they were turning their heads and looking straight out us, it was beautiful. I was lucky enough to get some photos of them, these are by far the best pictures I have of dolphins, and this was definitely one of my top dolphin moments. So here are my best photos, I’m sure they will make you smile, I haven’t stopped smiling all day.
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