“All good deeds towards nature are rewarded, ” I like to say. It never fails. I pickup some garbage underwater or right an upturned coral, and the next thing I know nature is rewarding me with a really cool underwater moment. As I was slowly drifting along the reef today, I came across some fishing line entangled throughout the reef. The first thought that goes through my head when I see this is the number of sea creatures, primarily sea turtles, who I often find entangled in this mess. So I reach for my trusty fishing line snipers and begin to start collecting the fishing line.
At just the exact moment that I finish, I raise my head to see this tiny female loggerhead sea turtle slowly swimming directly for me. Should I raise my camera and risk scaring her? I don’t. Plus, I always prefer to experience these encounters without a camera blocking my view. She comes in within arms reach and pauses to stare me in the eyes for a few seconds before turning and slowly swimming away. Once again my saying holds true.
I thought that was the end of it. Mother ocean had done her part, but being the generous lady that she is I got to experience a lot more. I came across one of the most prolific cleaning stations I have ever seen. Over two dozen neon gobies, numerous shrimps, and even a beautiful juvenile drum were busy cleaning a friendly green moray. I sat and watched for a while as the moray shook his body from time to time, appearing to be tickled beyond control. Eventually a photograph was in order, and the friendly green moray allowed me to approach to about an inch from its face for a few photographs.
Without a doubt the greatest reward for me was the thought that no sea creature would come to harm from this fishing line I collected. Having the 60ft+ of visibility, a very light north current, and 80 degrees of warm water (by this native Floridian’s standard), and tons of marine life to observe was a nice extra treat.
Next time you’re out among nature, whether underwater or above, don’t forget to do your good deed. I promise the reward will be well worth it!
My wife and I were there on the morning dive and seen the Moray getting cleaned. We had a great experience and, and one of the photographers helped us out when my wife’s integrated weights fell out keeping a possible disaster from happening. We will definitely be back to visit and when we dive we are booking with Walker’s Dive Charters.
Thank you for a great experience
Rich Martinez
Thank you so much for the kind words, Rich. We are so glad you enjoyed yourselves. We look forward to seeing you again in the near future.