Beauty in the Deep

I've now been snorkeling twice now and I cannot say enough about how amazing it is to peek into another world. For not being a "beach" person, a "water" person, or an "ocean" person, I seem to have adapted fairly well in just a few weeks to some of the opportunities here. (All you folks out there.....never say NEVER!!)

To slip into the pristine turquoise ocean and float effortlessly on the top of the salty water is an incredible feeling. Maybe that is why I like it -- I feel absolutely weightless! And, then, to look down and see fish in all colors, fan coral waving in the water -- it is difficult to describe the euphoria that I have felt. (If any of you readers have snorkeling experiences to share, please feel free to post them!!) We don't have an underwater camera (yet), so I don't have any actual views of what we have been seeing.

But here is a photo of a "Trumpet Triton" which is a highly valued shell. (No, we did not harvest this!) We were in the local dive shop, picking out my snorkeling mask, and a soldier came in to retrieve his catch from the freezer there. You can actually see the snail that is still embedded in the shell. That is one process for removing the mollusk from the shell -- you place it in the freezer.

Tritons are part of a huge mollusk family -- there are over 60,000 species of "gastropodas." One source I checked said that gastropoda means "belly-footed" since these mollusks or snails, if you prefer, move on their stomach.

There are limits placed on the number of living creatures that can be picked up from the ocean floor, and while I am not sure that this is something I want to do ( I guess I can't say "never"), it is interesting to follow how others add to their collection.

So far, I have limited my harvesting to those shells ending up on the shore with the insides all cleaned out for me. The shells themselves are like jewels just sitting on the beach, waiting to be picked up -- they are so beautiful and symmetrical and intricately made by the humble little snail that used to live inside.

Here is a sampling of shells, with a penny in the mix for size perspective.

All I know is that once you start looking at shells, you can easily become addicted.