Snorkeling with Wendy
10th June 2010
By Jean
It's a whole different world from ours, so close to us, yet so far away. When walking on the sandy beach all you can see of the sea is the deep blue of the sky reflecting off the shiny surface of the water. However only a few meters away from the sandy shore, underneath this blanket hides rocks, plants and animals nothing like those we are used to seeing in our everyday lives as we walk on the dry crust of the earth's surface. Kefalonia is where I had my first snorkeling experience which allowed me to peer into the exciting world of the reef in Mounda beach. On my first trip I got hooked and have been going every free evening I have since then.
Today I was eager to go snorkeling again, for my third trip, but no one else wanted to go this evening so I headed down to the beach on my own. I waded slowly out into the sea, the cold water tingling my skin. Once I was out far enough I strapped the snorkel onto my head tightly and plunged into the sea. It was a beautiful day for snorkeling as the sea was calm and clear. As I swam away from the shore I could hear my breath rasping through the snorkel tube and it sounded like Darth Vadar! I could taste the rubber tube and the salty water surrounding it.
As I swam I passed by beautiful, colourful fish and past plants that were swaying in the gently lapping sea. Then, all of a sudden, I came across the shape of a smooth rounded rock, or was it a shell? As I came closer I saw that it was the carapace of a loggerhead sea turtle, who was searching the bed of the sea for food. I floated motionless in the water, only bouncing up and down on the gentle waves, hovering just a short distance from it, watching fascinated. I had only caught a glance of a turtle once before, a few days ago, where I could barley make out the shape of it through the cloudy water as it swam away. Today the The sunlight reached through the water dappling the turtle and sea bed in a fascinating and and constantly changing pattern, lighting the underwater world splendidly. Through the clear water I could see the turtle easily and noticed that it had only a short tail which hardly extended past it's shell, signifying that it was a female turtle. She noticed that I was there and turned around slowly to inspect the invader, but she appeared not to be concerned with me as she carried on in her leisurely search for food.
The turtle paused from her grazing on sea-grass and effortlessly climbed the short distance to the surface. There she just raised her nose out of the water to take in a breath of air. I inspected her carefully and noticed that she did not have any barnacles on her carapace and her flippers had not been tagged. It was exciting to think that I might see her on the beach nesting in the next few weeks. Later though I discovered that she might have been “Wendy” a turtle that Manu and the group see regularly. Wendy is a juvenile, so unfortunately we won't be seeing her nesting any time soon.
I was fascinated by watching Wendy as she meandered along the sea bed and occasionally bobbed up to the surface for air. I wanted to stay there forever, but the water was cold and I began to shiver. I didn't want to leave her, but when goose bumps started to prick up on my arms I decided it was time to start making my way back to the warmth of the shore. I must have been watching Wendy for about 20-30 minutes, before I waved goodbye to her and hoped that I might see her again on another snorkeling trip. I turned around and started to make my way back to the shore where I would return to my own world.
By Jean
It's a whole different world from ours, so close to us, yet so far away. When walking on the sandy beach all you can see of the sea is the deep blue of the sky reflecting off the shiny surface of the water. However only a few meters away from the sandy shore, underneath this blanket hides rocks, plants and animals nothing like those we are used to seeing in our everyday lives as we walk on the dry crust of the earth's surface. Kefalonia is where I had my first snorkeling experience which allowed me to peer into the exciting world of the reef in Mounda beach. On my first trip I got hooked and have been going every free evening I have since then.
Today I was eager to go snorkeling again, for my third trip, but no one else wanted to go this evening so I headed down to the beach on my own. I waded slowly out into the sea, the cold water tingling my skin. Once I was out far enough I strapped the snorkel onto my head tightly and plunged into the sea. It was a beautiful day for snorkeling as the sea was calm and clear. As I swam away from the shore I could hear my breath rasping through the snorkel tube and it sounded like Darth Vadar! I could taste the rubber tube and the salty water surrounding it.
As I swam I passed by beautiful, colourful fish and past plants that were swaying in the gently lapping sea. Then, all of a sudden, I came across the shape of a smooth rounded rock, or was it a shell? As I came closer I saw that it was the carapace of a loggerhead sea turtle, who was searching the bed of the sea for food. I floated motionless in the water, only bouncing up and down on the gentle waves, hovering just a short distance from it, watching fascinated. I had only caught a glance of a turtle once before, a few days ago, where I could barley make out the shape of it through the cloudy water as it swam away. Today the The sunlight reached through the water dappling the turtle and sea bed in a fascinating and and constantly changing pattern, lighting the underwater world splendidly. Through the clear water I could see the turtle easily and noticed that it had only a short tail which hardly extended past it's shell, signifying that it was a female turtle. She noticed that I was there and turned around slowly to inspect the invader, but she appeared not to be concerned with me as she carried on in her leisurely search for food.
The turtle paused from her grazing on sea-grass and effortlessly climbed the short distance to the surface. There she just raised her nose out of the water to take in a breath of air. I inspected her carefully and noticed that she did not have any barnacles on her carapace and her flippers had not been tagged. It was exciting to think that I might see her on the beach nesting in the next few weeks. Later though I discovered that she might have been “Wendy” a turtle that Manu and the group see regularly. Wendy is a juvenile, so unfortunately we won't be seeing her nesting any time soon.
I was fascinated by watching Wendy as she meandered along the sea bed and occasionally bobbed up to the surface for air. I wanted to stay there forever, but the water was cold and I began to shiver. I didn't want to leave her, but when goose bumps started to prick up on my arms I decided it was time to start making my way back to the warmth of the shore. I must have been watching Wendy for about 20-30 minutes, before I waved goodbye to her and hoped that I might see her again on another snorkeling trip. I turned around and started to make my way back to the shore where I would return to my own world.
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