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Scuba Diving with Turtles!
One of the things that will get scuba divers excited is when they are scuba diving and have close encounters with turtles. If there is a picture that portrays serenity it would be a turtle’s gentle strokes of their flippers as they glide along in their silent tranquil aqua world. Turtles are mammals so you are more likely to see them in warmer water than cold as they do not need as much energy to keep their body temperatures up. These graceful creatures can grow to very large sizes and can live for long periods of time; some have life spans longer than humans!
In Hawaii you don’t even need to be a diver or snorkeler to see them as they often times feed in the afternoon on the shore line on green algae in water only a couple of feet deep. During the day if you want to see them, look under coral bommies where they nap and go up for air every 30 minutes or so. They wedge themselves in under the rocks so that they stay put without expending any energy and also as a defense against being attacked by sharks which will bite off a part of them if they can. Sharks generally are the only thing that will attach turtles. The other danger that they have is being caught up in nets of fisherman which if they cannot free themselves in time, they drown. In Hawaii they suspected that turtles that had tumors growing on them were in part caused by people touching their skin, which rubbed off a protective mucus barrier which made them susceptible to infections which turned into growths. After they started educating people especially scuba divers and snorklers, the turtles seem to be healthier looking in Hawaii.
When you see turtles and they are napping if you go over the top of them you make them very nervous as they might be very low on air and be concerned that you might stop them from going to the surface which could mean that they will drown! In Hawaii if you are caught harassing a turtle they will fine you big time, like thousands of dollars as many turtles are on the endangered species list. If you want to get close to them if you come from in front and to the side turtles are more likely to stay where they are, so you can get a real close look at them. As a side note, on Sipadan there is a cave that has quite a few turtles that have died inside from falling asleep and trying to leave the cave in the wrong direction and going deeper into the cave instead of going to the surface.
When leading dive tours most of the eco friendly dive operators will include in the safety dive brief that fish as well as turtles like to have you come towards them slowly from the side so that they can see you coming towards them and some fish will let you get almost in touching range especially if they are in a no fish zone like Hanama Bay near Waikiki on the Hawaiian island of Oahu where they see divers and snorkelers on a regular basis. I have noticed that when I am scuba diving as I get closer towards the fish that I start to exhale slowly and gently and then once they are aware that I am there I exhale more vigorously which doesn’t startle them as much the result is much better photo opportunities for me. Along the same lines If you have spent any time around big mammals like horses and mules they will let you know that you have surprised them by coming up unannounced by kicking you, something you don’t want to experience if you can avoid it, farmers and cowboys and herders all make noise of some sort around their animals from whistling to singing or talking gently. It makes common sense that if you don’t mean them any harm by moving slowly and below or to the side making sure that they can see you all the time will result in many close encounters with turtles and many others of the beautiful creatures in the world.
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