Karl's space

Hello and welcome to my 3-part series about encounters with marine wildlife, beginning with the magestic sea turtle.  The inspiration for this blog comes a number of sources:  the animals themselves and a few friends who use blogs to express themselves about something they have a passion for or about. 

The first entry will cover the green sea turtle, then its companion the Humpback whale, both of which I encountered in the great state of Hawaii, followed by the majestic Manta Ray from the Cayman islands.  Hopefully these short intoductions, photos and related support resources will inspire you.

Napili Bay, Maui, Hi.  October, 2005 

She appeared from the warm, clear depths, ascending for a breath of fresh air.  It’s as though she was a ghost, floating quietly upward, her silhouette contrasted against the clear blue water. My breathing intensified; my heartbeat seemed to pound out loud from her mere presence to my vicinity. There we were, not 10 feet away from each other, bobbing in the waters of Naplil Bay, off of Maui, Hawaii.  A female Geen sea turtle, and I, a Hale with new sunburn on my back from patiently snorkeling in the intense Hawaiian sunshine.  Sharing the waters of the pacific with this majestic sea creature, I realized how fortunate I was.  It wasn’t as though I pursued an encounter with the sea turtle.  I knew they congregated in the area, as I had seem them sunning

themselves on other visits to this relatively obscure bay just south of Kapalua.

 The Hawaiiian word for sea turtle is Honu.  I took these photos of her over the course of a few minutes.  Then she disappered, down into the cool clear depths and into a coral reef.