Snorkeling with Turtles in Gili Air, Indonesia

June 23, 2014 at 12:47 am  •  Posted in animals, Bali by

I’m not really sure if I’m supposed to get itches on my back. Either way, I’m itchy, and it doesn’t help that my arms can’t reach over my shell. I’ve never had anyone to ask my questions to.  It has always been some genetic instinct that’s kept me alive, but this itch that supposedly may not be an itch is really starting to annoy me. I guess I was too preoccupied with the itch to notice the change in the currents and so I’m taken aback when a looming shadow blocks the sun’s twinkling rays and abruptly banishes the glittering gold flecks surrounding me. I don’t need to worry—judging by the way it breaths and swims I can tell it’s just another one of those land fish, a couple of them too. I try to keep moving along the bottom floor, my itch (or whatever it is) already beginning to subside, when I feel my body being pulled upwards.  In the next moment, I’m face-to-face with six strange creatures. Actually, I’ve never been this close to land fish before and the sight doesn’t exactly put a smile on my face. There’s something eerie about their gangling bodies and protruding lumps of flesh and how their mouths extend into long tubes reaching up to the surface. I swim by each one of them and all at once, they extend their hands to my slimy, algae covered back. If only they could scratch it.

I start to head down again, back to my life of solitary, but the land fish seem incessant on keeping me by their side. One of them, I notice, holds out a small rectangular box to me. I’m not used to all this attention. My instincts warn me that these land fish are no good and so I duck down again. No reason to start going against all my intuition now. They trail behind for a couple seconds, then gradually the water stills and I’m alone once more. Fading into the constant beating pulse of the ocean, I can’t help but wonder, what do the land fish think of me?

[Authors Note: turtle’s can get itches on their shells]

P1020338 - Version 2

 

Yve

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3 Comments

  1. Cari Johnson / July 17, 2014 at 3:17 am /

    I love this Yve. You should write a children’s book about your travels from the perspective of the local wildlife. You could have Tuck and Jones illustrate, or I have a good friend from Disney who illustrates.

    • Yve / July 21, 2014 at 4:39 pm /

      thanks Cari ! good idea, I like it. and so will my dad — he’s been trying in vain to get everybody to write a book on the trip :)

  2. Gail Reitter / August 17, 2014 at 11:16 am /

    I love this too Yve. The ‘Land fish” describes us well and we do look weird with the snorkel and goggles on. We once had a barracuda, snorkeling near us in the French West Indies that appeared to be following us. He was surrounded by other little fish, that ate from what grew on his scales. So he did not seem threatening at all. We later found out that was his usual hand out for years and he was just really curious about the “land fish”. Unlike your turtle he was super confident, and we didn’t scare him one bit, it was more the other way around.

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