Nature and all its wonder is a part of our lives in most every place we look. It gives us the colours in the leaves that flutter in the trees on a warm summer’s day, the currents that flow across vast oceans, interconnecting creatures and places. There is much speculation that human kind is at the forefront of what is happening throughout the world from a climate perspective, and to some extent that is true, but nature is the much needed beast that fights back in so many ways, grappling to maintain the equilibrium that has always existed. I have a strong belief that unless we act now in a responsible manner where we, the human race recognise the need to treat life and what we have respectfully, that nature will be the only winner and it will fight back with a vengeance. We have only one planet and how we care for it, how we respect it and the other creatures we share it with will determine our future.
Throughout my various diving adventures that have taken me to many different locations, I have seen many wonderful sights. I have seen the beauty of some natural wonders, the creatures that call those places home, along with the power that is nature and at the same time the destructive hand of man. The ocean is a beautiful place and when I immerse myself in its cool waters I am wrapped in a natural calm that is difficult to describe, and I am appreciative of every single moment that I am afforded in that world. I have a very deep respect for life and at the same time I wonder about death and the intricacies with which both come and go.
My latest adventure gave me an opportunity to spend time admiring creatures that I have only ever seen in magazines or other peoples films, and I can only say that now having completed that dream, I know how far between it is for those that will read this and watch the images I share and the true experience in itself, because you just cannot replace being there with a shared thought, no matter how hard you try.
Our adventure was via a boat, a rubber ducky they call it, which is part solid hull, part inflatable, due to some issues with available boats, we were required to be a part of a different launch procedure which did not include us being in the boat during launch, but instead nearby as it was reversed at high speed before the vehicle brakes were applied, and the fully gear laden boat continued into the water. It was at this point that all hands were required to turn the boat seaward, and steady it against the incoming waves whilst the boat captain parked his car and trailer then got the boat started and we all hopped on board. It was one tough adventure and to say that a double dive felt like a four dives at the end of the day is somewhere close to correct.
The journey to our dive spot was short, but still a bit rough, however luckily I do not suffer from sea sickness, so it was sort of fun, and watching the dolphins swimming as we went was a nice appetiser for the dive ahead.
Sitting just a few hundred meters off shore, on a rocky point, lay three coral outcrops that just break the surface of the ocean, constantly battered by the waves that roll in from distant places. In twelve to fifteen meters of water depth, unseen to eyes above, you will find a world of fish, sharks and rays, which waits patiently for each day to unfold. Here, Leopard Sharks and Saw Sharks spend the day in sandy gullies resting as the current flows through carrying the nutrients that sustain the small fish that live there. With the small fish come the larger schools of bigger fish in search of food, and in between, the large Manta Rays and Smooth Rays glide and hover, where the small fish can clean their weary bodies of parasites and tend to wounds received on their continuing journey. Turtles sleep in small caves in between coming up for air or scouring the water for the luscious jelly fish upon which they like to feed. This is nature at its finest. Each creature living its life to the fullest, with the deepest respect for other creatures, and fully understanding their role in the day to day happenings.
There is life and death, but it serves a purpose. In the ocean, creatures kill for food to survive and through a natural process the strongest ones survive by eating the weak and sick, maintaining a strong and healthy balance, and nothing is wasted as even the smallest remains are eaten leaving the bones to become tiny fragments intermingled in the sand. What is unfortunate is that humans don’t truly understand this and each day the balance is turning ever so slightly away from where it needs to be as they indiscriminately fish the oceans.
Diving during the day I was able to witness the grace and beauty of the Mantas as they glided effortlessly through the water, keeping an ever watchful eye on the divers that had paid a visit. Some of the larger Mantas were quite obviously use to seeing humans swimming quite close and through the trails of bubbles that filtered to the surface, whilst some smaller ones were a little more skittish, wearier of what they saw. The sharks lay peacefully waiting for the night to come, the time when they would go in search of food, and like the Mantas very weary too, but at the same time relaxed in human company.
After completing our two days of diving, we explored this beautiful island and a couple of its beaches. At one point we stood atop a cliff and watched as three Mantas swam tail to tail just under the surface in the water below. The very last beach we walked stretched on for a distance and wash not far from Manta Bommie that lay just offshore. It was there that we came across a small dead turtle. At night they come to shore, moving cumbersomely over the sand, straining muscles to return to the place where they were born so that the cycle of life can begin once more. Some turtles do this year in and year out and some, like this one don’t complete the journey which can become overwhelmingly tough to say the least, and I know that it is a way of keeping the numbers down naturally. The turtle was facing the land, and as I looked on I felt a touch of sadness, because even though I get nature, it does not mean I have to like it.
A part of me was torn at this point wondering what it would be like to just never get to where you are going, and maybe never returning to where you came from. Sort of in limbo. Then as I pondered life itself I made a choice to move the turtle to just inside the high tide line, facing it out to sea in a hope that the tide would carry it back to the water where it had come from and let that be its final resting place if nature could so choose it to be. To me there is no right or wrong in what I thought, there is just what I know fits within the person that I am, and whilst many may choose otherwise, my choice was all I knew to make. I bid it farewell in my mind and we left the beach.
The next day we were getting ready to leave the island and we decided to see if the tide had done what I had hoped it would do, and as I stood upon the timber lookout staring at the beach below, I saw that the turtle was gone and I knew that the cycle of life had been completed. As I turned my eyes towards where we had dived at Manta Bommie which lay just off shore, I watched as a Manta leapt in somersault from the water twice in a display that is not too often seen. This ever enquiring mind then wondered, was that a show of thanks for doing what I did, was that the manta saying ‘later’ until next time we meet, or was it just pure luck that it happened at that point in time. I leave that for you to ponder.
Wonderful refections on a magical adventure, LP – I cannot wait to see your film from this expedition!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂