Sea Herd in the Deep Blue Indigo
by Dennis A. Taylor
Naturalist & Geologist
"The ocean is a desert with its life underground and the perfect
disguise above." —from "A Horse with No Name" by America.
As my fins hit the crystal clear water behind the dive master
and my assigned partner, the desert at the surface was quickly
left behind. We plummeted toward the staggering, life-filled
reef named Tormentos seven stories below us. The surface
currents were strong, so it was imperative that we drop like a
rock toward the glorious reef below, covered with a myriad of
corals, multicolored sponges, and sea fans perched on the
abyss. The dark reef heads protruded from the snow-white
coral sand channels, sand sheet creeping toward the edge of a
wall drop-off, and a diver could, if he did not drop fast
enough, be swept over the edge of the wall into the open mar
Caribe—where the big predators wait.
Clearing and equalizing our ear tubes rapidly as we fell put us
down into the suckholes, out of the longshore current, behind
and below the reef heads, and in the sand channels. There we
could relax as visitors to a special world filled with the
wonderful, tumultuous, spectrum of reef life.
It was a bright day full of sunshine, with the sun directly
overhead, so our undersea world was extremely well-lighted
for viewing all the critters. Every kind of shrimp, crab, fish,
and even endangered Hawksbill sea turtles were our
courteous hosts, guiding us through their homes. Our brains
were flooded with images of a different world in which we
were literally immersed, and those of us with cameras were
enthralled, capturing videos and stills of all that was there
around us.
At that depth our dive lasted about 45 minutes. Like
astronauts hovering weightless, our air in our tanks began to
wane, and we began to ascend over the reef heads, and onto
the sand flat covered with eel grass. A different assemblage
of critters lived there: eels, shrimp, flounder, stingrays, skates,
sand divers, blennies, sea turtles, and yes, I was fortunate to
experience my first encounter with a herd of seahorses.
If you were in a hurry, without your eyes open, they would be
almost invisible. But there, in the eel grass blades, was a
subtle stampede of 4 or 5 buff brown seahorses, up to 6 inches
long. They moved gracefully, pausing to wrap their coiled tails
around blades of grass, and staring at us with round, sweet
dark eyes.
Many divers dive their whole lives and never see a live
seahorse. It was definitely a complete day for all of us who
opened our eyes on el arrecife Tormentos when the herd of
seahorses with no names passed quietly by in the blue indigo
world of el mar Caribe. We safely made our decompression stop
at 20 feet for 3 minutes, and returned to the other side of the
surface, into our world, the ocean of air.
by Dennis A. Taylor
Naturalist & Geologist
"The ocean is a desert with its life underground and the perfect
disguise above." —from "A Horse with No Name" by America.
As my fins hit the crystal clear water behind the dive master
and my assigned partner, the desert at the surface was quickly
left behind. We plummeted toward the staggering, life-filled
reef named Tormentos seven stories below us. The surface
currents were strong, so it was imperative that we drop like a
rock toward the glorious reef below, covered with a myriad of
corals, multicolored sponges, and sea fans perched on the
abyss. The dark reef heads protruded from the snow-white
coral sand channels, sand sheet creeping toward the edge of a
wall drop-off, and a diver could, if he did not drop fast
enough, be swept over the edge of the wall into the open mar
Caribe—where the big predators wait.
Clearing and equalizing our ear tubes rapidly as we fell put us
down into the suckholes, out of the longshore current, behind
and below the reef heads, and in the sand channels. There we
could relax as visitors to a special world filled with the
wonderful, tumultuous, spectrum of reef life.
It was a bright day full of sunshine, with the sun directly
overhead, so our undersea world was extremely well-lighted
for viewing all the critters. Every kind of shrimp, crab, fish,
and even endangered Hawksbill sea turtles were our
courteous hosts, guiding us through their homes. Our brains
were flooded with images of a different world in which we
were literally immersed, and those of us with cameras were
enthralled, capturing videos and stills of all that was there
around us.
At that depth our dive lasted about 45 minutes. Like
astronauts hovering weightless, our air in our tanks began to
wane, and we began to ascend over the reef heads, and onto
the sand flat covered with eel grass. A different assemblage
of critters lived there: eels, shrimp, flounder, stingrays, skates,
sand divers, blennies, sea turtles, and yes, I was fortunate to
experience my first encounter with a herd of seahorses.
If you were in a hurry, without your eyes open, they would be
almost invisible. But there, in the eel grass blades, was a
subtle stampede of 4 or 5 buff brown seahorses, up to 6 inches
long. They moved gracefully, pausing to wrap their coiled tails
around blades of grass, and staring at us with round, sweet
dark eyes.
Many divers dive their whole lives and never see a live
seahorse. It was definitely a complete day for all of us who
opened our eyes on el arrecife Tormentos when the herd of
seahorses with no names passed quietly by in the blue indigo
world of el mar Caribe. We safely made our decompression stop
at 20 feet for 3 minutes, and returned to the other side of the
surface, into our world, the ocean of air.
| ________________ ARCHIVE January February March April May June July August September October November December ________________ |
| ________________ |
Black Bean Chihuahua
| ________________ |
The ptotem for May is the owl.
Submissions of original owl images
should be sent to pterobones@gmail.com
no later than April 20th. All submissions
will be included in May's Ptero Heart.
Submissions of original owl images
should be sent to pterobones@gmail.com
no later than April 20th. All submissions
will be included in May's Ptero Heart.
APRIL 2010
1. Snake
2. Coyote
3. Cow
4. Deer
5. Llama
6. Bat
7. Crab
8. Owl
9. Seahorse
10. Shark
11. Raccoon
12. Pterosaur
2. Coyote
3. Cow
4. Deer
5. Llama
6. Bat
7. Crab
8. Owl
9. Seahorse
10. Shark
11. Raccoon
12. Pterosaur
| Welcome to the Ptero Heart of Luna Taylor |
| Insurgent Arts of PAUL IMAGINE |
| Letter from the Editor: Freedom of Voice |
| Featured: Poster Artist Paul Imagine |
| Ptotem: Seahorse |
| Sea Herd in the Deep Blue Indigo |
| Featured: Insurgent Arts |
| Recipe: Soup Kitchen #3 |