Under the Sea

Touched a sea turtle today. I was going for a long walk on my favorite stretch of coast, when the high tide turned it into a short walk. I couldn´t hop from cove to cove any more because the water was over the rocks. I saw some snorkelers getting pounded by eight foot waves and figured why not? I had already checked out two other different beaches today. Luckily I had my swim goggles in my fanny pack, so in I went. Getting out was pretty exciting, lots of rock and coral and really big waves breaking in the shallows. I put my goggles on and stuck my head under in between big waves. Nothing but churned up sand and air bubbles. I stroked hard. A big wave smashed over me and I found the bottom, or it found me. The water cleared for a second and I discovered I was in three feet of water over a bed of coral, and in some places it stuck up kind of like knives. Hmmm. I stroked really really hard, and pretty soon was in deeper water. Because of the heavy surf, the water was a bit murky and kind of crazy to be snorkeling in. Each heaving swell would pull me fifteen feet out to see, then throw me back towards the beach abruptly. It was happening to the fish as well, which were all pretty big in this area. I had some fun swimming to the bottom, rolling over, and watching the huge breakers roll by from underneath. As they swept past I could see them break in a loud swirl of bubbles and turbulence. After one of these I looked around to see two sea turles cruising by. Their backs were covered with sand from the crashing surf. I chased one around for a while but lazy as they are they never let you catch them. A little bit later I saw one again. I crept up on him and realized I was hidden from his peripheral vision. Right on top of him I gently stroked his shell from front to back. That spooked him pretty good and he was off- cool though.

Earlier in the day I had found myself in the middle of a giant roiling school of tiny silver fish. It was just like on TV, 1000s of shimmering bodies moving as one, yielding to my flailing body, always just out of reach, encircling me and above me. Noronha is a destination for the rich, for package tourists, for couples, and for a few very serious divers and surfers. It is not much of an international travelers destination or a stop on the backpackers trail, so the social life here has been a bit thin. I haven´t minded, with days full of natural wonders, and my motorcycle. Tomorrow, however, it´s back on the plane. Touching down in Natal, I may stay the night or bus immediately to Praia da Pipa, we´ll see.