Coral Reef in Tuamotus

 

The underwater life in the Tuamotus is all we were led to believe and more. Visability is pristine to a hundred feet and beyond but most of the colorful fish and coral can be found in less than twenty feet. With only two snorkels under our belt here, we are ready to declare this rivals the best in the world.  At a coral reef with a two hundred foot circumference yesterday, we saw meter-long sharks hovering before we bravely lowered ourselves in. As we were told and Bear now so fervently quotes, "We were more interested in the sharks than they were in us." Besides a half dozen sharks, we saw literally thousands of brillantly colorful fish and coral. A school of hundreds of football-sized black fish meandered aimlessly in one direction, then another. Oysters with florescent colored lips of blue, red, purple and black were embedded in the coral - fueling our desire to learn more about these intriguing shellfish that are famous in this area. Every color was represented and it's difficult to estimate the number of species cohabitating there. After an hour, we reluctantly climbed back in the dinghy and shared our awe and private discoveries. It was truly an event to remember