Nice slide show.

These must be you on some of your diving projects, Michael.

That fishing trawler ?, looks like, didnt have a lot of marine life attached to it. Pretty clean looking.

Really liked all the wildlife ! Many of them I recognized, but some I couldnt recall their names.

Some of those were deep water, guessing by that self lit swimmer.

My favourites are the morays and cuttle fish.

You found a bunch of those cleaner shrimp too with their white "whiskers" .

And those swimming arrows, barracuda. I used to swim with fairly large schools of them in the British West Indies. They just eyed me with that stare and I swam normal, making sure to be horizontal several feet below the surface, staring back and all was fine.

Wonderful photos . I'm guessing that was yourself in several of those shots, even smiling through the portal window



Thank you , Michael, those looked like enjoyable times in exploration.

I miss clear , beautiful water with bright colours of fish and reef.

A whole other world down there under the sea.

I thought you might enjoy them Sharon



Its very relaxing when all you hear is shrimp clicking and your own breathing. on my days off when I wasn't teaching or guiding dives, I could go down there wedge myself between a couple of big rocks and watch a shrimp or moray till I dozed off.

I did enjoy this, thank you.

I recall those sounds well.

What was really a hoot was when a "herd" of parrots would glide in, chopping reefs with those big backhoe like teeth. You could hear them eating a long ways off.

And I thought horses are noisy in their crunching !

So colourful they are, with several types.

I always thought how strange when fish want to use only their front fins and let their tails drag , with hardly any motion to propel forward. Their front end bobs up and down with every paddle of their front fins. Like their back ends are paralyzed. But that's just how they roll.

What is really fun, is having a big Manta right next to you. When I sailed small cats , they would surface right up to touch between the pontoons, and I would reach down and touch their backs. That smooth as silk black velvet feeling.

Lots of life and characters in the seas.

And they all have their own little quirks. I played for a whole summer on one particular dive site with an octopus that lived in a mason jar till he outgrew it. I would smash a sea urchin and feed those yellow lumps to him and he would come out of his jar and crawl up my arm. sometimes he would hitch a ride and I would bring him back to his spot at the end of the dive.

Very nice! Thought about trying that in my younger days but never did it.Done a bit of snorkeling but that's it.Probly a little long in the tooth for such a thing now.

What a hoot.

I've seen morays do the same, and when they are worked with a little, become quite tame.

I saw a diver befriend a huge green one, she was a teacher, and would take kids on field trips in the boat , out to meet him . She was teaching them about oceanography, and along with that, how unique some of the wildlife is, even friendly, despite the gaping jaws full of teeth.

He was over seven feet long, and would swim up to meet her halfway to the reef where he lived. She had him to the point where she would wrap him in her arms and take him to the surface, and even out of the water for a little bit, where the kids, amazed, would see him close up. By that time he was so trusting, he would allow himself to be taken out of his life breathing water , just for a little. Her point was that not every creature that looks like a dragon , behaves like one....IF they are familiar with humans.

This isn't uncommon with divers, either.

Like what you did, a little food and repetitive visits help.

I fed morays when I worked for a place that rented huge aquariums to hotels, offices, restaurants, etc., in Hawaii . In cleaning the tanks , I was able to befriend several . One liked his back scratched . Who knew ?

My favorite Atlantic round stingray loved it when I put my regulator in her mouth and pressed the purge button a little. Must have tingled in her gills a git. She could not get enough of it. In the first pic you can see the bubbles coming out of her gills



Other than that she was all hugs and kisses

Wow ! That's a huge ray. She must have followed you around a bit for you to be able to touch her .

I do know, many sea animals are curious about us "hoomans "....and the rays, skate, cuttle fish, eels, and octis are smart.

That's a nice mix of fish all over the place in those shots, too.

Like (regardless of who posted this)

She would pick me out of a group of divers every time and come to me to play. Mind you it did cost me a lot of time and sardines to get her like that. I used to tell new divers in the pre dive chat not to worry when a large ray turns up and wants to play with me and not to touch her when one is over her as that sting would be that last thing one would notice in this world if she go spooked. I used to get those looks like " yea whatever " then head out and down and she would turn up like a flash and you could see the folks breathing rate go up a few notches when they realized that I gave that pre dive talk for a reason. She was like a puppy that is happy when ya come home. I went to that spot maybe 2 or 3 times a week and she knew it.

That's so cool !

I can see their faces in my mind on seeing that big of a ray being so up close and personal !

Just like the big morays with those huge jaws baring all those teeth ( of course explanations were warranted , that this was just their way of "breathing" with that gaped mouth wide open swimming at you )

Is this kind of ray's skin the same feel as the big black mantas I used to "pet" ? Their skin was as smooth as silk .

No Sharon these have a skin much like sharks.

Ok, I wondered that.

Look at that eye. It seems like the rays, cuttle fish, octi, all have eyes like that.

Horses have that elliptical eye too. No matter what angle they are in, or holding their head, their eyes remain at the same angle . The pupil is always at the level.

I bet she searched the grid for you, when you had to leave.

Sharon, Japanese katana swords have used ray skin from their bellies to form the grip of the sword. Decorative and provides a sure grip.
Look at Google images for ray skin Japanese swords.

The best sword ever made. The best in quality , balanced weapon . I didn't know the handles were covered with ray hide.

I have always admired the Katana's invention , and have seen individuals wield it in masterful fashion.

Thank you , CL, for that share.