Seal Cay, Belize
We spent the morning and early afternoon at Seal Cay, a tiny little island sitting atop a very large reef. The snorkeling was fantastic and the SCUBA diving was brilliant. Snorkeling or diving, what a pleasure; and it all began the moment we hit the water: 80 degrees, 80 feet of excellent visibility and at least 80 different species of fish to admire. The divers, that is the Undersea Specialists, as well as a couple of SCUBA-certified guests looking for that deeper adventure, found a nice wall, which we explored down to about 75 feet. After the slow roll out of the Zodiac we were on our way, soaring like birds on a warm, gentle wind. The landscape beneath us, vague in the distance, soon came into sharp focus as we floated closer. At first it was complex and confused, a visual cacophony. Right before our faces there was every color we had ever known and possibly every shape. If precious jewels were animate and they had their own world, it would surely look something like this! Life was everywhere, covering everything, layers of life, creating caves and crevices filled with yet more life. Stop a moment. Be still. Be patient. More appears and what was invisible becomes visible. Pictured here, perhaps the least of all we saw, just a tiny fish, a splash of colors, a living jewel, maybe two and a half inches long, a fairy basslet. It flits along in a shallow cave upside down, close to a living ceiling composed of a shade loving, encrusting sponge. I just love the fuzzy volcano motif! For this petite fish there is no gravity and ‘down’ is where the closest surface is. And there is not just one fish, there is a whole tribe of them ‘ruled’ by one or two dominant males, their own Lilliputian Kingdome where they feed on tiny plankton plucked out of crystal clear water. And as I said, this might be the least of what we saw.
We spent the morning and early afternoon at Seal Cay, a tiny little island sitting atop a very large reef. The snorkeling was fantastic and the SCUBA diving was brilliant. Snorkeling or diving, what a pleasure; and it all began the moment we hit the water: 80 degrees, 80 feet of excellent visibility and at least 80 different species of fish to admire. The divers, that is the Undersea Specialists, as well as a couple of SCUBA-certified guests looking for that deeper adventure, found a nice wall, which we explored down to about 75 feet. After the slow roll out of the Zodiac we were on our way, soaring like birds on a warm, gentle wind. The landscape beneath us, vague in the distance, soon came into sharp focus as we floated closer. At first it was complex and confused, a visual cacophony. Right before our faces there was every color we had ever known and possibly every shape. If precious jewels were animate and they had their own world, it would surely look something like this! Life was everywhere, covering everything, layers of life, creating caves and crevices filled with yet more life. Stop a moment. Be still. Be patient. More appears and what was invisible becomes visible. Pictured here, perhaps the least of all we saw, just a tiny fish, a splash of colors, a living jewel, maybe two and a half inches long, a fairy basslet. It flits along in a shallow cave upside down, close to a living ceiling composed of a shade loving, encrusting sponge. I just love the fuzzy volcano motif! For this petite fish there is no gravity and ‘down’ is where the closest surface is. And there is not just one fish, there is a whole tribe of them ‘ruled’ by one or two dominant males, their own Lilliputian Kingdome where they feed on tiny plankton plucked out of crystal clear water. And as I said, this might be the least of what we saw.
