Chapter 13: Meeting the Coral Reef, Mile Marker 14

Then- hurrah of hurrahs it was time to find Mile Marker 14 which was mapped as a good snorkeling spot. We made it even after Dad turned off too early and took us to a beach section with a "Sharks are here!" sign. The water took some getting used to and the winds were fierce but what we found once we were out in it 200 yards or so from shore was well worth its while. There was a coral reef with all sorts of sea life: anemones, black fish with bright blue lines where its fins connected to its body, yellow, green and blue fish, a fish with a large pointed mouth that looked like it had buck teeth, and all sorts of other fun little guys. I always have a problem with not breathing in sea water when I'm snorkeling, but eventually I plucked up my courage and dove under about fifteen feet to where two pieces of the reef were split to make a little valley. I swam through it and a big school of fish swam out in front of me, appearing suddenly out of the reef. It was amazing- such a fun nature experience.

We went back in long enough for my add to draw us a picture in the sand of how to get of a rip tide. Sarah had been taking pictures before, but I was given the camera then and I hope with all my heart that the pictures of what came next turn out. I will put a picture next to this when they are developed if possible. I was a little farther out when something took my attention. I turned and Sarah was waving frantically at me.

I flippered over to her and found her excitement was due to a sea turtle nibbling at the edibles on the reef. We stalked this turtle for a least twenty minutes. I wondered what the turtle was thinking. My thoughts ranged from the Nsync song "Celebrity" to that maybe he was in league with a shark and was leading us to a horrible dinnery death. We lost him eventually, figured out that we were a quarter of a mile down the beach from where we started and swam back- tired and very content.

My towel was fine even though Dad had neglected it and had had to chase it down the beach as it ran from him. have I mentioned that the beaches here are really tiny? From the road or grass a lot of them can't be more than fifty feet and a lot of them are less.