September 2, 2008
Last night was really fun and today I am regretting it a bit, BUT I had the most amazing dive experiences ever. Today I saw 8 humpback whales while I was diving. This is so rare and lucky most people don’t believe me. The first dive was to manta reef and the song of the whales was so loud you could tell they were close by. I knew that one of the divers was going to run out of air first and I knew that we would have a better chance to see them just the 2 of us with less bubbles. At 10 meters we saw them for the first time 2 huge whales swim by us. My heart jumped into my throat, they we each about 8-10 meters long about 4 meters wide. I was so excited and shocked and even a little scared. They are gigantic animals. I did a little happy dance for my buddy thinking that was it when another swam below us, and finally 2 more right past us. My whole body was in shock from the excitement. Completely unreal and amazing to swim with such immense creatures. I was feeling a sense of accomplishment but also that I did not get a real proper look at them as the visibility was bad and I was in shock. Since this happens so rarely I was wishing it had been more clear figuring it was the only time it will happen in this life time. We came back to the shop for a break before. My friend the video guy decided not to do the dive, he joked, “no one can see whales twice in one day.” Right now he is slapping himself because somehow, I proved him wrong. The second dive was nice and deep and short, the divers were happy and the whale song was barely there. As we came up to finish our safety stop all of a sudden, out of the blue 2 colossal whales and the baby playing around just below teahe surface. This time the visibility was clear and they were so beautiful and so close. My heart about jumped out of my cheat. Such massive remarkable creatures. The fear and exhilaration clash so much my body does not know how to respond. Really spectacular.
On one of the boat rides we did also see a baby hammerhead shark just below the surface, also a first for me. Days like today make me realize why we are here.
Other then that things are okay here, the days are passing quickly, hard to believe it is September already. We have mixed feelings about Tofo but we are here for now so we will make the best out of it. We have a lot of friends and people are constantly coming and unfortunately leaving. I guess it never hurts to have more friends scattered around the world, I just hate goodbyes. Something I have become very familiar with in the past few years. Okay that is all for now. Love and kisses.
Rachel
September 7, 2008
Saw another whale today, unreal, I was taking someone on their first dive. Defiantly my best experience yet, very close and curious of us and really a bit scary. It was about 20 feet long and it seemed very interested in us. It was so close I could see the barnacles on its face. It seemed odd that we were in such shallow water (20-30 feet) and there in front of us is a whale. I actually swam away from it as I brought the diver close to the ground to watch what it would do next. It is interesting to see how my reaction has been such fear, and also wanting the line that goes to the surface. Part of my fear was wondering if mom might be near by and concerned that it was coming so close to us. I was not sure what this beautiful creature was going to do next. It went up to the surface for a moment and then came back down to look at us again. I did have enough time to look it to it’s giant eye. A once in a life time thing and this is my 9th in a week. Everyone is very jealous, and a bit sick of hearing about it. I found one friend last night that also had a whale experience this week and we snuck off a couple times during the party to indulge in conversation of our fortune. I am really lucky or perhaps timely is the right word. I guess going in on my day off to teach someone to dive turned out well. The diver knew of his luck to see a whale on one of his first dives seems unfair. Some divers spend their lives in search of one of these encounters. Perhaps they like the pink of my BCD, whatever it is, I can only hope they keep coming. And I get to continue to share the experience with others for their first time.
