by Lazaro Ruda

May 10-15th, 2003

There’s something about the last day of a spectacular vacation that engenders a state of urgency with a touch of sadness. For your subconscious awakens you with a touch of reality, “This is your last day of vacation. Carpe Diem! (Seize the day)” Wanting for the day to slow to a snail’s pace, I dwell in every moment from the second my eyes open.

What better way to start than with one of Chef Frank’s breakfast. From savoring every berry in his blue berry muffins to tasting the sweet and tart flavor of the fresh orange juice, this breakfast hit the spot. I indulged in a couple of servings to truly seize the day. Meanwhile, Capt. Kurt motored the Shear Water to our first diving destination – Mt. Olympus – the perfect start to our last day.

One by one we dove into the water and descended upon this magical place. The different species of corals and sponges covered every exposed section of the reef. Animals both large and small swam through the maze of corals or high above in blue water.

I began exploring this deep water reef closer in hopes of finding some rarely seen creature but its shear vastness and beauty would leave my eyes wandering in every direction making it almost impossible to stop and spend a long time in just one area.

Then there was the attraction of the 1500 feet drop. Simply hovering high above the wall out in the blue gave me the impression as if I was flying. With the thought of knowing that I was 1500 feet above the ground, there was a certain state of euphoria that I rarely experienced back home in the waters off of Florida. All the while, the dark blue waters enticed me to explore them deeper. Controlling my urge, I stayed in the relatively shallow area of the reef in order to extend my bottom time. All the while looking up and taking in all the beauty that surrounded me.

After we returned to the boat, a couple of hours passed and once again we were getting suited up for our next dive. This time at a reef called Anna’s Delight. This large coral mound averaged in the 50 - 80 foot range. As soon as I descended upon the reef, a large barracuda hovering above a cleaning station caught my attention. I watched as this great predator of the reef opened its mouth and tiny fish and shrimp entered to delicately nip away at tiny parasites. Without hesitation these little creatures swarmed the body of the barracuda never seeming too concerned about their safety for there was an untold mutual agreement between this great predator and these cleaners.

I began to follow a Gray Angel as is swam alongside the reef. Intrigued to observe why this fish busily swam around the reef, I followed it for a while. Never quite understanding its purpose, I took advantage of certain moments to get some photographs of it as it swam by.

Half way through the dive I came upon a towering pinnacle of coral that seemed all too familiar. Not because I had been here before but because nature had replicated the design of the towering evergreens I commonly see on land.

I spent some time here enjoying its design and intricateness when suddenly a free swimming green moray and grouper swam below me. Although they are a common sight for me back home, I never pass up the chance to swim along with one when they are out hunting. Watching their behavior and feeding mutualism is always an action packed and awe inducing sight.

With only a few minutes of bottom time left I slowly began ascending towards the top of the reef and took a couple of more photographs. As I ascended up the anchor line, I stopped for a few minutes at my safety stop and enjoyed the sight of this beautiful reef below me.

After a delicious lunch and a little time spent relaxing, I anxiously prepared my camera for the next dive for we would be diving El Dorado again. This time I would be better prepared to take advantage of every shark encounter I had. Before long we entered the water and watched as the Caribbean Reef Sharks circled below us. As we descended upon the sandy area around a patch of the reef, I took a couple of practice shots before the action was to begin. Once again, the daring Anna Abernethy glided midwater with the bait crate containing a couple of pieces of succulent Barracuda. The sharks followed closely behind in a very calm manner.

Fortunate for me, I was about 10-15 feet from where she placed the bait crate and the sharks began to circle around me closely.

Coming in from all around me, my subconscious prayed that I could trust that these wild animals could differentiate between good tasting (the fish) and bad tasting (me). All the while my trigger finger was busily moving about snapping photo after photo.

Looking above me, they would glide past me appearing like the silhouette of fighter jet.

With the reef right below me I also took advantage of photographing small reef fish as they scurried around the sharks, the bait crate and the other divers.

At one point, a feisty little Coney made its way into the bait crate and pulled out a large piece of the Barracuda. As he exited the bait crate dragging the piece of Barracuda, he quickly swam in my direction. My eyes bulged from their sockets as my brain quickly assembled the warning sign, “If a shark sees that Coney, he/she will stop at nothing to grab the piece of Barracuda. And with me in the way…” I quickly shuffled my feet backwards away from the Coney’s path and made a quick sharp turn along the edge of the reef. Luckily for me and the Coney, no shark had caught on to its actions and the Coney ducked into the reef to enjoy a hearty meal. All the while my heart rate, once again, began to slow.

To say it was thrilling to watch these animals circle me and at times come in so close as to make me fall on my behind would be an understatement. For they once again proved to me that they weren’t the ravaging animals they are depicted out to be. Instead, like all animals on this planet, they are simply surviving as best as they can in this man’s world.

As the rest of the divers began to ascend and with still plenty of bottom time and air left, Dave Haas and I stuck around a little longer. I watched as Anna glided above me as she photographed the sharks.

Back up on the line I slowly sneaked up on Jimmy “Dah Fish” and decided to play a little practical joke. Without him realizing I was behind him, I clenched his arms as if something had bit him. His reaction with his eyes almost bulging out of their eye sockets and the huge exhaust of air bubbles convinced me that my prank had worked. For the next 3 minutes at the safety stop, I spent it with my mask constantly flooding as I laughed hysterically at the outcome of my cruel prank; all the while Jimmy inflicted me with the occasional smack. Dave Haas had witnessed the whole thing as well and upon surfacing our laughter grew in intensity to the point where others around us laughed before we could even explain what had happened.

Back up on the boat we all quickly agreed we wanted to do another dive on the reef, this time without baiting and after our surface interval we were back in the water. With my video camera in hand, I was quickly filling up the tape with memorable moments.

See it for yourself! Click here to watch a video of the dive.
11.3MB Windows Media Player File
Requires Windows Media Player to view. For optimal viewing quality, right-click on the link and select Save Target As.. from the menu. Save to your desktop and run it from there once the download is complete.

(Amazing how a little music can change the appearance of the shark’s temperament from hair-raising to almost comical. Keep that in mind next time you watch one of those shark week documentaries. What impact would the movie Jaws have had it not have its legendary musical score?)

After a fantastic second dive at El Dorado we motored back to Sugar Wreck for our final dive of this fabulous vacation. With yet another scrumptious dinner fulfilling our stomach, a couple of us who didn’t have to fly the next morning jumped in the dark, current-blazing waters and enjoyed of yet another dive on Sugar Wreck. We watched as a large Loggerhead turtle who carried along 3 large Remoras ducked away from the current swept water. Slowly inching my way back to the spot where I had photographed the Orangeball Corallimorph, when I reached there I realized my strobes weren’t firing because I had forgotten to change the batteries on them. As dumb luck would have it, this time there were two Orangeball Corallimorphs in full bloom and with only the onboard strobe of the camera to illuminate the photograph, I took a photo of them.

After an hour of diving the wreck and exploring every nook and cranny, we returned to the boat and dried off. Enjoying our last night together, we shared in some stories and laughs before we headed off to bed. We would be awakening tomorrow back at port in West Palm Beach with great memories, some spectacular photographs and videos taken by everyone, and barrels of laughter remembering every moment.

The next morning as we waited to go through customs, Jim Abernethy paid his wife and the rest of us a welcome home visit as only Wildman Jimmy can…

Although I was sad to see this adventure come to an end, I was grateful for every second that I experienced of it. From the wonderful friends I made, to the life changing experiences I had with the wild dolphins and sharks. This was a trip I will never forget.

To my new friends who shared in this adventure:

Thank you for sharing in an incredible experience. Your kindness and friendship I will always treasure. I will dearly miss you all. I sincerely hope we can one day share in these adventures again. Keep in touch!

To Anna & Jim Abernethy, Capt. Kurt, Dave and Frank:

You have all been the finest of hosts and I thank you for making this memorable trip possible. I will always be grateful for everything you do, for in your hard work and passion lies the essence of everlasting memories. God willing, you will see me again real soon!

Your friend forever,

Laz

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