Coral Reefs - The City Beneath The Sea

Immersed in a medium that appears to make everything slow down - my body movements, my thoughts and the creatures around me. The transluscent rays of sunlight above slowly dance upon the surface of the water while beams of light, in lighter shades of blue, penetrate the surface and touch the reef system below or funnel into the blue abyss.

The reef, consisting of millions of living creatures, explodes with every color in the spectrum. Brightly colored sponges intermingle in a kaleidoscope of colors and branching corals tremble in the ocean's current. Soft corals slowly sway back and forth while each individual polyp retracts its tiny arms as it captures free-floating plankton. All around, a circus of brightly colored fish dart through this maze of living corals while larger individuals hover above in the ocean blue. Whether busily attracting a mate or in search of food, these fish display a variety of personalities. From the extremely territorial and tiny Damsel fish to the busy Neon Goby, which cleans fish hundreds of times it own size - each creature merits my attention.

This dense medium is not without sound. From the powerful snap of the inch-long pistol shrimp, the reef-crunching beak of the parrot fish and the sound of the scuba diver's own breath, transformed into rising bubbles - sound envelopes the ocean world.

Transported into this watery world, the freedom of weightlessness excites its attraction. Slowly sinking in this cool, liquid blue medium the pressure around my body slowly increases as I dive deeper. I find myself at 80 feet below the surface at a reef called El Dorado . Looking around, I revel in its splendor. Huge outcroppings of tube sponges litter the reef. Thousands of fish busily go about their lives while larger, majestic sharks slowly glide above.

Like a beautiful sunset setting in the distant ocean, I hover in midwater as my senses overload amidst all its beauty. Suddenly they begin to appear. First a few at a time then hundreds - thousands of them. A thick wall of Blue Runners slowly swim down current along the reef. Their bodies glimmer in the rays of light coming from above. This blanket of living creatures surrounds me while nearby Caribbean Reef Sharks slowly glide through the school. This migration of fish continues throughout the 40 minutes I spend immersed in this carnival of life.

Next Page