ALDABRA ATOLL FIRST SNORKEL

The southwest area of Assumption Atoll was selected as our first snorkeling site.  This area has  a sheltered bay which hopefully would protect us  from strong open-ocean currents.  Nevertheless before we boarded the zodiacs, the  expedition team went out at dawn to check the conditions.  They found a shallow area with a gently sloping seabed containing coral and seagrass and hopefully when we arrived, marine life.  The water was a little murky, due to some floating seagrass bits and cloudy skies, but the water was calm – it was deemed a go.
Most of our snorkeling excursions were “platform dives.” When our zodiacs arrived at the site, two were lashed together to serve as our platform.  After defogging our masks, putting on our flippers and storing our wet bags containing sun hats, sunblock, sandals, sneakers, water bottles, etc   (this is important for later) I made my first plunge into the Indian Ocean:

 

Immediately, everything  changed. I was no longer in my world.  The water felt cool, soft and gentle (this time) and  a bit cloudy due to the loose pieces of seagrass and no sun streaming from above. I was very conscious of the sound of my steady breathing – which actually was a boon on other snorkels – I will explain in a later post.  I took my time getting acclimated, letting my flippered legs do most of the work.

It is important to stress here that snorkeling, while absolutely fun to do, still requires safety protocols.. Firstly, even though we were snorkeling as a group of about 10, it is very easy to become isolated.  While you are intently staring at the marine life, even gentle currents can push you astray.  Though a few of our expedition crew were in the water with us, looking out to make sure everyone was safe,  things happen quickly.  I made sure to come to the surface every few minutes to look around -and see if I had strayed too far from the zodiacs – even in these calm waters I was often surprised at how far I had gone, particularly while focusing on capturing a photo.  Fortunately I am a strong swimmer and was able to get back into  range.  More on this in later posts.

I followed some fish around, taking a few photos:- there are difference in quality depending on the amount of seagrass particulars and available sunlight:

 

 

This is a parrotfish.  They are colorful reef dwellers that feed on algae and coral – in fact they act as “lawnmowers” preventing the algae from overgrowing and smothering the coral. They also do some simply amazing things.

1- Parrotfish have fused teeth that they used to break down coral.  You can actually hear them sawing away.

from the internet:

 

 

After consuming the coral, it is broken down in the parrotfish’s body and after nutrients are absorbed, the waste is excreted – as soft white sand. A single parrotfish can produce over 837 pounds of sand a year.  Think about that the next time you are walking along a beach.

2- Parrotfish can change their sex from female to male:

  • Parrotfish live in harems with one dominant male., which is brightly colored while the females are dull reddish brown
  • If the dominant male dies, the stress from it’s absence causes estrogen levels to decrease and testosterone to increase in the  largest female
    • The female undergoes a rapid change into a vibrantly green, blue or pink colored dominant male which will then protect the harem and provide sperm to fertilize the harem females’ eggs

Just wow.  I could have stayed for hours and hours, but time flew so quickly and it was soon necessary to swim back to our zodiac platforms,   take off our snorkel gear, climb back into our zodiacs and put on our sneakers, etc for our return back to the big ship.

Except – although I swam back to a zodiac platform, it wasn’t MY zodiac platform.  You see, even though I was checking while snorkeling  so I didn’t stray too far, all zodiacs look the same, so the platform I thought was mine – wasn’t   This appears to be a common occurrence with snorkeling excursions  and since all zodiacs were going back to the same ship not a big deal – except I had to take the snorkeler’s “walk of shame” having to walk barefoot back to my cabin until all zodiacs were emptied and I could retrieve my personal items.

This wasn’t the only time my personal stuff went back to the ship without me.  Cie la vie!

 

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