Life under the Red Sea

Before I get into my scuba diving adventures, I just want to thank everyone who reached out to me regarding my last post. It is good to know that beyond this tiny Danish infested boat there are people who care about me and want me to have a good time. (Apologies to any Dane I haven't met yet who might be reading this. Your country men have set a poor example. Plus, this doesn't apply to Tina and Jennifer who are a lovely people and I hope to stay in touch with)

Ok, now on to the diving...

Wow - I have been so spoiled this week. This place is definitely a world class diving area. There is such variety and abundance. When I arrived I had only completed 17 dives, and I will have doubled that by the time I leave.

I know I have compared the underwater world to a Disney movie before, but it really is the best way to describe the shear diversity of colours, textures and marine life. Many fish defy description in their colouring, shapes and patterns. There are ones that try to look bigger than they are, there are some that try to look smaller, then of course there are one that don't want to be seen at all. Some of my favourite moments are included below, but truly this has been a total reaffirmation that I am hooked on diving.

I am not a fan of any snake like creature, this includes eels. This place is crawling with morey eels. I have seen several out in the open, on the hunt. They have large impressive heads , which consists most of jaws, and then powerful ribbon like bodies. When they are tucked up in their rocky homes, they are spooky but not that forbidding. Out in the open, they look like creatures from a prehistoric age ready to swallow you whole.

I was fortunate enough to see many kinds of lion fish. These are the ones that have big fan-like spines coming out of their bodies. They are quite beautiful, but very poisonous. They hunt in groups at night. So on night dives you could see many of them floating in full flight.

I got quite got at finding scorpion and stone fish. These fellas are coloured and patterned to blend into the rocks and coral. They ambush their prey. I even saw a scorpion fish make a kill during a night dive. It was quite impressive to see the speed at which he made the snatch, ate, and then returned motionless to his perch.

Another fun part of night dives is to see how fish sleep. Many of them wedge themselves into cracks and crevasses in the reef to stop from floating away. The cutest sleep, however, has to be the puffer fish. They curl up with their tails tucked into their sides, just like a dog or cat.

I also saw a lot of coral I have seen before. The Red Sea has incredible diversity, and is especially lush for an area with so much commercial shipping. My particular favourite soft coral is a pinkish white mini budded coral, that has hundreds of little grasping fingers constantly curling and uncurling bring any little microscopic food particles into its centre core. It is quite mesmerizing to watch.

Finally, I had a close encounter of the turtle kind. On a dive a few days ago, we came across a turtle floating near the reef, completely oblivious to us. He was happily bobbing along. However, he then became more animated as a group of small jelly fish floated past. He quickly (well, as quickly as a turtle can), lined himself up, and started to chow down. He and I were eye to eye at one point. We were only about a metre away from each other. And I swear he gave me the stink eye, when he thought I was encroaching on his buffet. It was a really amazing moment to see him so close up.
Despite my earlier post about the other members of this tour, I have had an incredible experience. Really, what's not to love about sailing around the Red Sea in the beautiful sunshine, warm water, great food, and an underwater wonderland. I hope I will have a chance to return here someday.

PS: I have new patches of freckles from this experience, so this memory will live on for some time to come.
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