Day 5 Scuba Diving.
Amanda and I got up a little before 6 the next morning and took the dingy to shore to look for birds. I was still bleary eyed as I tied up the boat. There wasn't much in the forest by the bay but we did see a golden fronted woodpecker in the trees and a few whimbrels picking through the grass by the abandoned hut. A broken concrete footbridge led over the inlet to the bay and we took this into the forest. There was a small hermit crab on the bridge. I have no idea how he managed to get up the 12" concrete steps.
We only saw a few warblers in the thick trees. There was trash in the underbrush by the trail. Coming back around towards the lagoon we walked out on the narrow concrete pier towards the roped in section of water. It was filled with hundreds of white fish which panicked as we got close, making the water boil. We were told later they sometimes brought dolphins in from the Honduras and put them in this pen for the tourists.
We walked into the resort but only saw a few shorebirds and grackles. Later as we walked back along the crooked boardwalk in the oppressive heat and saw round sting rays, crabs, conch, hermit crabs and other strange fish in the shallow water. When an osprey flew by we followed her back to her nest where she had a chick. Her mate arrived soon after carrying a large grey snake.
We returned to the Espirit du Vent around 7:30 and called the dive shop to see if the conditions were ok. The weather wasn't good but they said there was space for four people on the boat to Turnoff Reef. The four cruise ships that arrived the previous night had doubled the population of Belize city and a large group had taken shuttles to the small island to dive.
Ricky prepared pancakes while we debated whether we should dive in the sub standard conditions or wait a few days for the weather to clear up. The forecast for the rest of the week was the same so we decided to dive.
Once the decision was made we hurried to gather our gear, lock the catamaran, and pile into the dingy. We locked it to a rusted loop set in the concrete dock and ran up the uneven board walk. Kim and Brian planned on snorkeling instead of diving and they went off on their own as we filled out waivers and picked up our fins, mask, buoyancy compensators, and regulators. I asked for a snorkel and was told "You don't need a snorkel". It was $101 for two dives and lunch.
The boat was a small two level structure with long benches along either side of the main deck and PVC pipes bolted to the floor to hold our tanks. Weights and other equipment were stashed under the seats and the captain had to climb up the wall to get onto the upper deck. Before we left they opened a hatch mid deck and worked on the engine.
We were joined by several groups of pale white Americans from North Carolina and Kentucky. The father of one family announced it was his teenage daughters birthday and everyone cheered while she turned bright red.
The captain drove out to the atoll at full speed into the wind and high surf. He swerved around the bigger waves but a few times we leapt up and splashed down with enough force to send water crashing over the top.
While we crashed along I saw a flock of flying fish speed away over the waves. The dive master came up and asked me how much diving experience we'd had. I told him I lived in Monterey and had probably dived a month ago, Amanda worked at an aquarium and dove a only last week, and Ricky and Bojana recently got back from Cambodia where they had done some diving.
We anchored at the dive site and after a short orientation where our dive master demonstrated the hand gestures for various fish, (lionfish were fingers interlaced and straight, the bat ray was arms held out like wings, and eels were signified by a puppet motion with one hand) we were split into two groups and asked to get our gear on.
As he picked up his dive spear, he explained that lionfish were an invasive species and they were trying to drive them out of the area. He asked people to tell him if they saw any.
There was a rope tied off the back of the boat and after jumping into the water we had to grab onto it and wait for the rest of the group. The surface was choppy and the current pushed the boat from side to side like a bullwhip.
On the first descent Bojana had problems with her BC. I arrived at the bottom quickly, followed by Ricky and Amanda while Bojana struggled to descend and eventually returned to the surface. The dive master waited until we were together then led us on.
The depth below the boat was 30' (10m) but we were perched over a ridge that descended to 100' (30m). The visibility was about 40' (13m), horrible for tropical water but pretty nice by Monterey standards - especially considering we didn't have to wear wetsuits.
The coral grew in clumps from the white sand. Only 20ft (6m) from where we descended we came across a huge six foot tall sponge shaped like a vase with with the hollow opening facing the sky. The instructor peered in, did the sign for lionfish and speared it out.
It bled dark in the water and he took it over to a more crowded portion of the ridge where he used the dead body to lure out a spotted eel. Pulling the body away as the eel lunged, he managed to lure the eel most of the way out of his hole before it swallowed the fish, spines and all.
Huge Lobsters lurked in some of the holes. They were more than 1 meter long with their antenna.
Even in the tropical waters we grew chilled after 30 minutes at depth. Between dives they fed us fruit juice, biscuits, watermelon, and chips and salsa. One of the tourists was morbidly obese and I wondered how he managed to squeeze into his gear and climb in and out of the boat.
During the second dive we saw a cloud hanging over a sandy slope and approached to find a huge sting ray 1m in diameter mucking through the sand. He beat his wings against the bottom leaving a trail up the slope. We hung around it in a circle and our guide approached until it turned and fled.
He speared 5 more lionfish on the second dive, feeding some to eels and staying a little longer to take three for his dinner. While we removed our gear a sea turtle visited the front of the boat and a shark sucker came to the surface near the back. Ricky jumped into the water to get pictures. It had a flat wrinkled forehead and it was pink from above and grey below.
During the dive Ricky blundered into some fire coral or a jellyfish and the sting made his elbow swell up.
We met Kim and Brian back at the island and they pointed out the manatee museum at the end of the dock. The museum was funded by an organization interested in preserving the manatee and they had a bunch of statues, bones, shells, and other interesting things out for display. Everything was just sitting out in the empty room and some of the signs encouraged visitors to touch. It was a welcome change from the strictly hands off American museums. I took a lot of pictures.
The stellars sea cow grew up to 30 feet long, weighed 8000 pounds and ranged as far south as Monterey. One of Amanda's coworkers at the aquarium said they found the fossilized remains of a sea cow in the road cut where highway 1 meets highway 68. When it was discovered in 1741, it was described as completely tame, a slow swimmer, and unable to submerge. Hunters drove them to extinction in 27 years.
Manatee bones are like ivory.
Manatees are known to be very affectionate with each other. In fact, there has never been a recorded act of aggressive behavior.
One of the guides told us there were manatee and nursing sharks in the nearby mangrove swamp so we took the dingy the long way back to the catamaran, driving through the narrow break in the trees. We stopped in the bay and did a little snorkeling but the water was muddy and we didn't see anything.
Kim said the flashes of light we were seeing at night were made by yellow finned damselfish. I them up later but nothing online mentions bioluminescence. Searching for bioluminescent fish of Belize also didn't return anything. I'm still not clear what was causing the lights.
After returning to the boat Amanda and I returned to the island to get some ice. The buildings were deserted and as we walked up we could see several of the instructors paddling out to sea in kayaks. They saw us and yelled until someone came out. We gave the man $4 and he filled some small plastic bags with a bucket from the freezer.
Back at the boat we made burgers and fries, played taboo, and had mixed drinks with vodka and rum. The cruise ships left while we sat on the back deck, their bright lights fading into the distance. I'm not sure why they all arrive at the same time.
I was a little concerned about how bad my swimming trunks were beginning to smell and my hair was almost solid with grease and salt.
While cleaning dishes, Ricky dropped his prescription glasses off the back of the boat and had to scramble to recover them. Later, Bojana dropped the coffee percolator and we had to put on snorkel gear to find it. I am amazed we didn't lose anything
Amanda and Kim were laying on the trampoline when they saw the shooting star light up the sky. I heard them cry out but I did not see it.
