On this very gray day here at the north end of Naviti Island, Fiji, we got out to the beach and found it covered with these tiny, round, flat shells – each with a hole in the center.
When I saw the first one, I showed it to Cyndi and told her that if I could find about a million more I could make her a necklace. Little did I know that billions wouldn’t have been a problem. The glowing streaks on the beach in the picture below are millions of these shells.
I spent about an hour with my friend Google, but she couldn’t tell me what they are. I think they might be some kind of algae or plant skeleton. If you know, please tell us. -Rich
I might have some Seasonal Affective Disorder. I notice a mood change when the sun hides for a few days.
I know I have WADs: Wind Affective Disorder syndrome. I get unhappy when the wind blows.
Why? I guess the easy answer is that I’m afraid of dragging anchor and hitting the reef. I know the odds are that our anchor will hold, but I still worry, just like I know my odds of winning the lottery are quite small, but I still buy the occasional ticket. (The anchor-drag lottery is not one I want to win.)
And when the wind stops after blowing for a few days, I get almost manic. A couple nights ago, it was still. We sat in the cockpit and I was so happy with life that I could almost cry. Last night, with the wind blowing 20 knots and the boat rocking, we huddled below in the cabin, drank, and tried to forget the wind by watching TV. (Problem: we can’t drink enough to really help in case we do drag and have to spring into action.)
To treat SADs, people use bright lights. Maybe I could treat WADs by plugging my ears with my earbuds and listening to music? -Rich
We tucked into a small bay to get out of the coming winds and found ourselves in 20 feet of clear turquoise water over a sand bottom. Splash…
This is where we anchored in what we’re calling Honeymoon Beach Bay…
Our anchor waypoint: 17° 05.911 S, 177° 13.452 E
(I’m glad no one reads our blog, otherwise, if we tried to anchor here again, we’d find it occupied.)
Yea, really bad pun, but really great animals! Here’s some of the video Cyndi got…
And some stills below. (The water wasn’t very clear, but that’s the irony. They’re eating the plankton in the water; The same plankton that clouds up the water and reduces the visibility. Oh well. What can you do with that wacky nature!)
The big one, the one with the white and black markings, probably had a wingspan of over 10 feet. The “little one” wasn’t that much smaller.
We heard that the best time to see the mantas is about a half hour before high tide. We don’t know if this is true or not – the guy at the Manta Resort told us tide didn’t matter, but all the local tour boats showed up just before high tide. We went early and did some drift-snorkeling and the mantas didn’t show up until the appointed hour. (By the way, the snorkeling was really nice!)
Manta Etiquette:
1. Don’t touch the mantas. They have a mucus coating that protects them from infections and parasites. If you touch them, you’ll rub it off and leave them vulnerable.
2. Don’t dive down. You may get a closeup view, but it will likely be your last as the mantas will swim off. That’s not fair to the others snorkeling with them. If you’re calm, quiet and still, they will mostly likely hang around for a long while.
3. Let others know when you spot them. They’ll do the same for you. There was an amazing spirit of cooperation out there yesterday!
Below is an interactive Google Map with the important locations…
