The winds began to blow and swells grew. But, that just makes for a slightly more adventurous dive trip.

The conference continues to be very informative and I learned much about the critters in the ocean that can make a dive unpleasant. The standard fear is shark attack, thanks in part to the movie styling of Steven Spielberg. But, there are many others which are more common. But, armed with the knowledge of their identities, I know who to stay clear of, no matter how pretty. But, that’s true in life in general, I guess.

The swells and waves were too large to board the boats at the hotel pier, but a short bus ride took us to the protected harbor. There were changes in our chosen destinations…I wouldn’t second-guess the boat captain for a second. And, in the end, the alternate sites were wonderful. I had a chance to “dance” with a few reef squid, one of my favorite activities. If you move with fluidity and calm, these creatures will include you for a short period of time in their frolic. On this occasion, part of the frolic was some mating. Sure, I felt like a bit of a voyeur with my camera, but ultimately I felt that the squid were not interested in anonymity. Capturing the quickness of their action was a challenge with my little point-and-shoot but my little photo-companion served me well. It’s a site that I haven’t seen before and I got to feel like a producer of “Animal Kingdom” for a few moments (couldn’t come up with that characteristic Animal Kingdom narrative though). And, even with two left feet (or fins in this case), I got to dance in the ocean for a little while.