On our last day in the Bahamas we got the chance to go snorkeling around the local reefs. It was awesome, and my first time ever snorkeling. We stopped at 3 different sites and got to see a great variety of fish and other....sea creatures. The first few sites were harmless enough, we got to feed the fish and swim around with them. It was my first time using fins like that also, and it was hard to get used to at first. Once I got the hang of it though it was awesome, you can really move with those things on. Here's a picture Zeb took from the top of the boat, you can even see the swarms of fish under the water.
That's me checking out what's under the water. It looks pretty boring from this view, but it is a completely different world with those goggles on.
The guide dove to the bottom and brought up a starfish for us to check out. It could only be out of the water for a few minutes and we could see it breathing through it's mouth on the underside.
Uh oh....but thats where all the relaxing and fun stopped! This next picture shows us all in the water clinging to the rope, with about a dozen reef sharks swarming right beneath us! NO JOKE.
They lowered a small box with food inside under the boat about 20 feet or so. Then they sent out the rope and strung us all out , peering down at the sharks! We were only going to be allowed to stay in the water with the sharks for 15 mins. but I don't think we even lasted that long. We were supposed to get into the water gently, as spashing attracts the sharks to the surface. We were also told to avoid any big gestures with our arms, because that is the motion that the sharks associate with feeding. It was pretty difficult, because we were still getting used to our fins and it was kind of the natural reaction to paddle with your arms to tread the water. So we clung to the rope with little dinosaur arms trying to maintain our position! The guides explained that the longer we are in the water and the more action that happens at the surface the closer the sharks will come. One shark came up so close underneath me that I'm sure I could have reached out to touch it, and by the time the last few people were coming out of the water, the sharks were right there circling on the surface! One even brushed up against one of the girls, good thing she was brave. Lucky for all of us, Zeb didn't have to poke any of the sharks in the eye.
After we got out of the water the guides fed the sharks food off the back of the boat and put on a pretty good show, getting them to jump up and thrash around and even get up onto the back of the boat. This is the routine and I figure they have about 10 boats doing 2 trips everyday. The sharks pretty much know how its going to go, but I did have to wonder if one day some shark would just get sick of the routine and skip straight to feeding time? This was one crazy experience!!
Zeb took a great video on his camera of feeding time, I'll post up here shortly for you all to see.
He actually wanted two more pairs of plaid shorts in addition to these, but I was able to talk him out of it. How much plaid does one man really need? Apparently it was just such a good deal on these plaid shorts, that he got a little over zealous.
Don't worry, as pictured above, swimming trunks also come in plaid.
One more item of plaid that Zeb has had his eye on is this pair of plaid slip-on's from Vans. It's a good look, my only question is regarding the mixing of more than one pattern of plaid. Hmmm...
Lastly, here are Katie, David, Zeb and I outside of the Atlantis Hotel.
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