You're probably wondering why I haven't posted about diving. And the reason why is because...well...I've been diving. But it's high time that I write about the newest love of my life.
There are times when I tell you all about living in Palau that I try to downplay how great things are in comparison to living in the Midwest. I "complain" about the heat and humidity because I just don't want everyone in Milwaukee and Chicago to fashwash me next winter. I say that it's tough not having a lot of shopping choices here, but that's just my excuse to wear shorts and a t-shirt all the time. But diving...that's a completely different matter. To put it lightly, diving here is about a gazillion times better than swimming in Lake Michigan.
A little background about me will help you understand why. I grew up in Milwaukee and from an early age learned to swim, participated on the local swim team and water ballet (that's right), and eventually became a lifeguard throughout high school and college. Probably about 60% of my life was spent with wet/frozen hair.
The Schumaker family summer vacations only added to my water baby-ness. Every year we packed up the 15-seater Ford Econoline, a U-Haul, an endless assortment of water toys and gear, and headed Up North (aka northern Wisconsin). Everyone in my family knew how to swim, fish, waterski, and tube at about 2 years old. It was a blast, and it's pretty safe to say that we were comfortable in the lake.
The only problem with it was that once we were in a pool or lake, there wasn't much to look at. We preferred activities that kept our faces above water. It made sense. In a lake, where the bottom is rock and mud, you can't see anything. Even if we could see underwater, the fish...well, they're just downright ugly and scary. A family swim across the lake was never complete without someone yelling "A northern is biting my toes!" or "What did I just feel on my leg?!?" And for good reason, because these are the critters that were surrounding us...
Grrrrr......
And this one's just downright unattractive!
Here in Palau, it's a completely different story. I get to swim within mere feet of some of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen. Forget about mud and rocks. Here we have some of the most amazing coral in the world...
(Big Drop off, referred to by Jaques Cousteau as one of the best dive walls in the world...not bad, right?)
After being underwater for about 5 minutes of my very first dive, I knew that I was hooked to the sport, and I've never been more comfortable or happy under water.
Sure, there are sharks, and sure, they can at times be as close as a few feet away, but there are literally millions of other sea creatures to keep the sharks well fed, and to keep new and excited divers like me immensely entertained. I've gotten about 30 dives in, and with 3 months left in Palau, I'm planning to use every opportunity I can to get underwater. For now, here's an overview of a few of my favorite fish, with some short anecdotes from my dive log of my close encounters with them.
I don't really know why I love these guys so much, but I do. They're a little like the manatee--ugly and endearing. When I've been diving, I've seen them in a variety of sizes, from about a foot long, to as large as about 5 feet long and probably about 2 feet high. One of the popular dive sites here is near the island of Peleliu. It's a great place to dive because it is just off of what is called the Mariana Trech, which is the deepest portion of the Pacific Ocean, and apparently the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Trench). As a result, these dive sites often include bigger fish and quick currents. I've been lucky enough to head out to these sites twice so far, and on both occasions I've seen a school of 5-7 huge humphead parrotfish. But these guys don't stick to deep areas. When Tom was here, we saw a school of them as well when we were snorkeling in about 15 feet of water!
Maml/Napoleon Fish
These guys have been labeled the national fish of Palau. They are also a really funny looking--I mean, how often do you see lips like that on a fish? Plus, they have huge eyes that follow you like a creepy portrait's eyes. For a long time the Napoleon was a favorite fish for Palauans to catch and eat, but its recently been banned to protect them.
I'm glad they're protected because they're a beautiful and interesting fish. One moment you see one swimming along incredibly peacefully, hanging out by diving and snorkeling boats hoping for scraps of food. They'll let us get within about 5 feet of them without batting a humungous eye. But then you head down 50 feet for a dive and you can see about 5 Napoleon fighting off reef sharks to feed on some fish. So I have to imagine that these guys are pretty crafty and resourceful. There is actually a story about an old, huge Napoleon who was friendly enough that snorkelers could feed him (her?) eggs out of their hands. Apparently one diver's piece of equipment resembled an egg, and the Napoleon swam up to her, chomped it right off, realized that it certainly wasn't an egg, and spit it out. I believe it because there have been times when we've fed whole rolls of sushi to Napoleon hanging around our dive boat, and they've been picky enough eaters to spit out the seaweed wrapping! I get to see these guys almost every time I go out diving, and because they're a rarity among other popular dive destinations, I really appreciate it.
Spotted Eagle Ray
The spotted eagle ray is another one of the venerated fish in Palau. I haven't seen them as often as I've seen the Napoleons or sharks, so it's exciting to catch a glimpse of one. Usually it just sits in one place, as though it's suspended by wire in one place. And I've been able to get pretty close to them when I've seen them...the ones I've seen at the dive sites (usually Blue Corner) have been small--only about a few feet wide, but apparently they can grow up to 30 feet wide!
Manta Ray
Mantas, on the other hand, are a completely different story size-wise. I can honestly say without a doubt that the times I've seen mantas have felt almost magical. They ones I've seen have been huge--sometimes up to 25 feet across--so they're the biggest type of creature I've seen so far.
To see mantas takes a little bit of planning because there are certain times of year when mantas simply aren't around Palau. And we don't see them along reef walls, which are the typical dive sites. Instead, they hang out near sandy bottoms, or "cleaning stations," where smaller fish swim through their gills to clean off parasites and dead skin. There are a number of dive spots here in Palau where you can spot them, the two I'v been to being German Channel and Devilfish City. So far I've been lucky enough to see them once while snorkeling and twice while diving. It's an amazing experience to see them while diving because these huge creatures gracefully appear out of no where and simply glide through the water with little or no movement. When we see them, we typically stop at a certain point during the dive and sit on the bottom, watching the mantas glide in a small circle nearby, sometimes as close as 10 feet away. And when it decides it wants to get away, one flap of its huge wings sends it flying away. To quote my incredibly articulate dive log...."WOW."
Sea Turtle
There's a reason why several of the pictures my nieces and nephews have sent me include a sea turtle. I just love these guys! They absolutely have the attitude of the Finding Nemo sea turtles...very cool and disinterested. While they're munching away on coral, they have no problem with me swimming as close as five feet away to say hi and just hang out. Knock on wood, but almost every time I dive I end up seeing one or two of these guys. It's gotten to the point where I feel guilty wearing tortoise shall sunglasses!
That's just a few of the big ticket items I get while diving here. There's more though--huge schools of colorful fish, World War II wrecks, and occasional dolphin sightings to name just a few. And the best part about diving here is that every single dive is different. So it goes without saying that I'll be taking every chance I can to "soak" it up!
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