water photos

Me

i'm going to do something a little different today.  Over the holidays i was the happy recipient of a camera that can take pictures underwater.  Its not as great as my friends who has an underwater video camera that he wears on his head, but it will take some great pics when the photographer(me)gets more proficient.

If you want to see a fun video of a lot of us swimmers frolicking with dolphins for over 5 minutes check out this link.http://www.vimeo.com/17978070  It all happened at Cane Bay about a month ago and we are still talking about it because there were 13 of us and only 2 of them.  Anyone who has been in the ocean with dolphins can attest to it being a spiritual experience, especially when they interact with you.

Cane Bay

Swimming with dolphins is right up there with those special moments you share with your favorite cat or dog or even other human beings; when they love you unconditionally and just pour out their need to interact too.  We aren't alone in this world when it comes to the desire to investigate other species.

Recently i've been lucky enough to have birds(the Great Egret that came to visit came everyday for two months, he only stopped when i took on the care of my friends dogs, maybe he will come back now that i'm done with that for awhile).  This cool turtle this morning that found us just as curious as we found him, the fish that will surround you if you hold still long enough, and of course the dolphins, there are others but for this piece the ones i've mentioned have been most important up to now.

Over the past few weeks i have been practicing  taking underwater pictures.  i'm not very good as it is entirely different from taking pictures on land.  A lot of bobbing on all sides of the equation take place in the water.  i'm bobbing, the fish are moving and a lot of deleting is going on, but it is fun.  You lucky readers get to view a few of the ones i didn't delete.

Hawksbill Turtle

The dolphins were back this morning but none of us were fast enough to catch them as they cruised through our swimming area. We swam out after them but were side-tracked by a turtle.  Two of us(the video guy and myself) were trying to maneuver into position to take pictures and more than once we each wrecked the others shots.  We were even crashing into each other, bobbing up, laughing and quickly getting back to business.  Neither of us were bothered by the other because we were so focused on trying to get that special shot of a Hawksbill Turtle who was the most cooperative we have had in a while.  i can certainly do much better than this pic, but at least you can see him.

If we held still he would start to float up to check us out, but if we made any sudden movements he became spooked and would swim back down.  That fear factor that everything alive has was activated but not too severely because he kept coming back to spend more time with us.

Most of us keep our fears to ourselves, we don't broadcast them unless we feel safe with whomever we are revealing them too. The turtle felt semi-safe, the egret felt semi-safe and so did the fish.  This allowed them to approach, as do humans, when they decide to lay their fears aside.

Atlantic Ray

Animals use camouflage to blend in, to protect themselves from predation by other animals that might want to eat them.  In nature there is a great need to blend in to conceal themselves.  In the human world there is also a great need to blend in for protection and support.

Some of us let our fears get in the way of real progress. The turtle this morning was willing to take us on as long as we didn't try to get too close.  He was willing to let us examine him.  He was willing to interact as a first step.

Last night some of those legislators in the audience, during the Presidents address, got closer to their opponents.  They actually interacted on a different level from the norm. They sat next to each other in the chamber. 

Blue Tang

i'm hoping it wasn't the last time they will mingle in this way.  i'm hoping they put some of their fears aside and understand no one on either side wants to wreck this nation.  i'm hoping they will learn that working together will bring forth good things for all of us.  i'm hoping this is the start of moving us forward in a way that is good for everyone not just a few.