First thing, as we were mooring up at the buoy, an Eagle Ray jumped out of the water at least 2 meters in the air. And I missed it! All I saw was the splash and heard the others ooooh and aaaah. (I did, however, see a different one jump earlier today from a long distance). That was the only thing I missed though. The first half of the dive was relatively uneventful. But then we came to the ledge of the wall, a sort of underwater cliff where it drops off to thousands of feet deep. It's totally blue over the edge, and you can see nothing past a couple hundred feet or so (the water is really clear here). As we were following the edge of the wall an Eagle Ray started coming out of the deep. It was coming straight at us. They're not dangerous, but it was a little unnerving how directly it was heading towards us. When it was about ten feet away it veered to the right and started heading away again. I'm not sure if it was the same one that jumped, but it's possible.
Just a few minutes later we came around a corner in an area with a sandy bottom and saw a small Nurse Shark sitting under an overhanging rock. Nurse Sharks spend most of their time motionless on the sea floor. One of the people I was diving with went up to it and touched its fin a couple times. I was tempted to try it myself because Nurse Sharks are pretty timid and definitely not aggressive. But I'm glad I didn't after hearing horror stories about their vice-like jaws. Apparently they have a very strong grip, and they won't let you go.
Just seconds after that we came across a Lionfish. I would have been content just watching it for a while, but Tim (another one of the Lionfish hunters) had brought along a sharpened rod specifically for that purpose. He jabbed at it a couple times, and it backed into a reef. He was able to stir it out and get several more jabs at it when Anke tapped on her tank to get our attention. All of us had our attention focused so intently on the Lionfish we hadn't even noticed a Hawksbill Turtle had taken an interest in us! When I turned around it was about 5 feet from me!!! What an experience! It was just gliding along and checking us out. When it realized that we had noticed it, it started to head away from us. It wasn't watching where it was going though because it collided with a buoy line and got it's fin hooked on it. It took several strokes and made no progress. It didn't look as though it was distressed, and I think it would have eventually freed itself, but Anke swam over and helped it get loose. I understand, now, how easily turtles can get tangled in nets and discarded fishing line.
The Lionfish Hunter
(http://current.com/items/90029540_lionfish-public-serice-announcement-for-the-turks-and-caicos-islands.htm)
(http://current.com/items/90029540_lionfish-public-serice-announcement-for-the-turks-and-caicos-islands.htm)
I didn't find out until we got to the surface, but it turns out that the buoy line was covered in some species of Hydroid - the family of organisms including fire coral that have stinging cells. Anke got a bad sting on her arm. But she was happy to have freed the turtle.
Pederson Cleaner ShrimpThere was so much going on in those few minutes it was hard to take it all in. In fact, by the time we had turned our attention back from the turtle the Lionfish had made its escape. I'm not sure how badly it was injured (if at all). We were starting to get low on air so we located the boat and got ready to ascend. On the way, however, I saw another new species, and was able to identify it when I got back to the room: a Pederson Cleaner Shrimp. It's a little blue-ish/purple-ish shrimp, about 1 inch long. This is the sort of thing you'd never see snorkeling, they're just too small. The ID book says that they're unafraid and will climb onto an extended hand and attempt to clean it. Too bad I didn't know at the time, I would have tried it.
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