Little snorkel story

cptnkirk · Post by **cptnkirk** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:33 pm

The event takes place at the point as you round the corner from Maho to Little Maho the the cast of characters are many. So I’m out on one of my daily morning snorkels, been out for a couple hrs and decide to take in the view from above. Not to shabby towards little Maho. Hey what the heck ya’ll lookin at? You segulls are acting like you guys have never seen a one eyed horned buttfish before, so stop gawkin at me your making me self-conscious . Snap a few of the gulls then decide it’s time to get back to the underwater world.
Wow that’s a boatload of Barjack to my right as soon as I immerse myself back into the water world. Must have been close to a hundred of them ,they just kept coming and coming. Well to the left of me are about a gazzilion silversides against the rocks when all the sudden all hay breaks loose. Barjacks every which direction, silverside swimming for their little lives all while the seagulls dive bomb from the top. The water was boiling and this horned buttfish was smack dab in the middle of the frenzy. Whole event lasted maybe 15 seconds but it was one of the coolest events so far in my snorkeling experiences. Snapped pics as fast as I could. Here is the whole thing in pics as it happened.
Anyone else care to share a cool snorkeling story that they have had by all means lets hear it.

2catlimit · Post by **2catlimit** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:50 pm

Very cool!
Must have been wild to be in the middle of it.
Glad you got it on film.
Thanks for sharing it.

lprof · Post by **lprof** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:43 pm

2catlimit wrote:Very cool!
Must have been wild to be in the middle of it.
Glad you got it on film.
Thanks for sharing it.

These were my very thoughts!
Good stuff ctpnkirk!

Coden · Post by **Coden** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:36 pm

That was a kinda "scary" snorkel story. Had my heart going there for a moment.

PSUWethr · Post by **PSUWethr** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 7:26 am

That is pretty much where hubby & I were snorkeling and also found ourselves in the middle in a school of baitfish. Then out of the corner of my eye I spot something quite large. I screamed as loud as I could into the snorkel and grabbed hubby and murmur something to the effect of "HOLY *&^% THERE IS A (*&ING SHARK! Turns out it wasn't a shark but a school of 4 very large (5 foot) tarpon that were hanging out. Still scary to see a creature almost as big as you are and being in the middle of baitfish!

parafins · Post by **parafins** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:40 am

From Little Maho to Big Maho is one of my favorite snorkels.I was there back in May.I miss walking down from my tent cottage at Maho,swimming around the point, and walking up the goat trail..

SOonthebeach · Post by **SOonthebeach** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 7:23 pm

Great story- and love the pics to go with it!

Have to admit a certain musical score was going through my head as I read about the fish scattering... da dum...da dum...da dum... dum... dum.. dum... dummmmmmmmmmmm

Glad it was the birds- must have been cool to watch from underwater. Thanks!

snorkles · Post by **snorkles** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 5:09 pm

I have a snorkel story too that really sticks out in my mind. A couple of years ago me and my significant other were at Waterlemon for our last snorkel of the trip. As we were heading back to the beach for the last time this trip, I was slowly creeping along in about 3 ft of water just taking it easy and enjoying my last snorkel for the year. I must have been within 6 to 8 feet from the beach when I saw something quite strange. It was directly below me and had the most beautiful colors. I thought it was some kind of coral until the octopus pulled up one of his legs to feed himself the fish he just caught. He had no idea I was there and we both realized at about the same time what was happening. He freaked and took off and my boyfriend said he had never heard anyone scream underwater before. It was amazing. The only time I have ever seen an octopus before. I hope to see one again some day and I won't freak out next time. I will be looking for him next week.

Thimbu · Post by **Thimbu** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 5:57 pm

We experienced something similar about 12 years back - just swap pelicans for seagulls and tarpons for the barjacks! Once I figured out that the tarpons weren't going to eat ME, it was amazing!

vav · Post by **vav** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 6:41 pm

Awesome!

greyhoundmom · Post by **greyhoundmom** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 7:26 pm

Love your experience! We always see this at Trunk because that is where MY tarpons are chillin down low halfway out to the right of the island. The mass of silvers are such a treat for the pels. When you are out there, you see the pelicans diving beside you and think, how cool! When you are on the beach, you see how close they come from that free dive to the heads of all the snorkelers!

Backtotheislands · Post by **Backtotheislands** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 10:59 pm

Right about the same place the end of July, hubby and I were snorkeling late in the day in the rain. I saw a huge Barracuda. It scared me so bad I missed the picture, and then suddenly saw several very large tarpon. I knew they were harmless, but the size scared me to death! Hubby said minimum 80#. Feeding time in the ocean!The water was really cloudy that day, too, so you didn't see them until they were right THERE!

I'm ready to go again!!!!

EagleRayLover · Post by **EagleRayLover** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 5:47 am

Anyone who knows me can tell you this story as they heard the screams of delight on two days (not just one) last October. It's been a standing joke that with my love for eagle rays, that one day I might finally get to see one in St John. Well last year- I actually said to Augie- "I'm okay if I never see an eagle ray in the waters of STJ." The next day we went out our dinghy w/ Chet and his DH. We anchored at the red bouy at Waterlemon, snorkeled around the cay, and are hanging out around the bouy looking for sea stars, and you guessed it!! I spot the most beautiful eagle, Cooper as he was later named, who stayed with us for about ten minutes!!! Later that day - I saw one more but she was just a quick fly by, but still exciting.
Our last day of the trip, Augie and I tried to snorkle Salt Pond but it was way too rough so we decided to just go to Annaberg Ruins. Once we were so close to Waterlemon- it looked manageable, so change of plans! and so glad- we jump in by the three bouys and in a span of 40 minutes we saw 8 eagles- i was flipping out!!!
Those are my two most memorable snorkles- one day I was teary-eyed in my mask and the next speechless!!! hope this trip brings some more underwater friends. Cooper- I'm coming back!

snorkles · Post by **snorkles** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 8:34 am

Keep these stories coming!

rpplano · Post by **rpplano** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:37 pm

Cooper the Ray at Waterlemon has a 6' Cuda friend who also lives nearby. I named him Snaggletooth. His 4 front incisors were at least an inch long.

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