Sunday, September 15, 2013

Swimming With The Fishes

Twitter
Picture Collage Using Fotor.com,  
pictures from yesterday's snorkeling @ La Jolla Shores and La Jolla Cove

We had another wonderful time swimming in cold with the fishes yesterday, despite the visibility may not be as great as the other times we went snorkeling. Nevertheless, it always is fun to be swimming with the fishes. Below are the individual pictures I used for the collage through fotor.com, an online picture collage app, using the pictures I took yesterday with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS 35, an underwater point and shoot camera.
 Hubby Diving Down
 Harmless and Friendly Leopard Sharks

A lot of people get afraid with the mere mention of sharks, probably thinking all sharks are born equal. Despite their name sharks, the leopard sharks are harmless, kind of very timid, non-aggressive, and have a lot smaller mouth and small teeth that they feed on very small shrimps and crustaceans. It's their small mouth and small teeth that makes them uninterested in bigger fishes, much more humans. :) When the mere mention of great white shark sighting would close a beach, or scare all people away, the leopard sharks have a different effect. People would seek them knowing these amazing animals are not like the gray white sharks and very much harmless. It is easy to distinguish them because of the striking pattern of black saddle-like markings and large spots over their back.
Harmless Leopard Shark Up Close ( photo however taken 2 weekends ago)
They feed only on very tiny sea creatures such as shrimps and other crustaceans. They haven't been known to attack any human, unless a human maybe harass them, any wild animal could hit back. I say they are friendly, because unlike other fishes, they do not mind swimming right next to you, though they would not face you, haha, they tend to swim away from you, kind of leading you or telling you that you are such a lousy swimmer. They are very graceful specie, it is so amazing to be surrounded by them, you just don't know where to turn since there's always a lot of them from June-December in La Jolla with peak numbers from August to September.
 Girabaldi Fish ( this is California's state fish )

Another exciting fish to see is the girabaldi, California's state fish. Somehow, in the pictures, they look mean, like ready to eat a smaller fish anytime.
this photo of girabaldi taken two weekends ago
However, in water, they are actually, pretty creatures! They are so cute, especially that they stand out because of their color. And they won't swim away from you, somehow, you both could look eye to eye, without the girabaldi turning his face and swimming away from you. Oftentimes, it's the current of water that will bring you away from this pretty fish, not the girabaldi. There are a lot of other fish species, but I am not so good in identifying them. Also, the water visibility this weekend was not great.

Water visibility is usually affected by a lot of factors. Our experience in San Diego tells us that surfing and snorkeling activities need opposite surf conditions. When the swell and the surf are too tall and powerful, something that excites the surfers and body boarders, it won't be as ideal for snorkeling and diving. The powerful wave swell and turbulence cause too much disturbance in water sending fine particles such as sand and sea weeds all over the place, lowering the visibility.  The waves were just too powerful yesterday and today, which meant poor visibility. I wondered why I was not boogie boarding instead. The past few weeks, we had been enjoying 25-50 ft visibility which was awesome. Yesterday and today, 0-15 ft depends on where the huge waves pound. :( 
Hmmmm, I am not sure what fish is this.

Our fun swimming with the fishes though may have to end soon as winter approaches. It's not much about water getting colder since water in Pacific West coast is cold year round thus our need to wear wet suits to stay long and enjoy the water. However, as winter approaches the waves and swell get bigger and bigger, to the big excitement of extreme surfers ( those who pursue 10-20+ ft waves). The excitement of big and pounding waves however does not extend to snorkeling and diving since the water turbulence they create  is not good for water visibility. Extremely huge waves for me signal the time to retire the wet suit, boogie board and snorkel. It's that time when the wrath of the waves becomes beautiful looking from the top of the bluffs only! Though I could shift from snorkeling to boogie boarding because I also love riding the waves, but frankly, I coward when waves go higher than 5 ft. I would usually dive down to escape the wrath of  waves taller than 5 ft rather than taking them for the ride. I love hiking and I don't really mind not being in the water anymore. However, I am still having a great time swimming with the fishes, that I am still wishing for more calm days in the sea.
♥♥
Facebook Twitter StumbleUpon Digg Delicious Reddit Technorati Mixx Linkedin

23 comments:

  1. Cool photos of the fishes and the sharks. Looks like a great time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow! It has always been a dream of mine to go diving with hubby, but his ear condition does not permit her to go underwater :( Great photos! It must have been an awesome experience!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow what an experience with the shark and those fishes. The closes thing that I encountered swimming with the fishes is snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, I was so scared that time too. It's a different world down there. I envy you for ur diving skills.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This reminds me of my underwater escapades too.. It's really great havng to have a face to face encounter with underwater creatures. it relieves stress and surely you may forget your burden while ou are there under..

    Nice tuck dive too Betchai!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's really different if you swim with them as compared to looking at them in the boat or a big fish tank. ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  6. Big waves would terrify me. Then again, so would deep water. I'd love to be able to see fish all around me though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You are now exercising different muscles of your body.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Glad Betchai you captioned the sharks harmless and friendly, I was thinking of the movie Sharknado while seeing the sharks. Cool pictures you got.

    Have a wonderful day Betchai.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I would love to do this someday but I have fear of the ocean (somehow). It would be really nice to conquer that fear. Nice and cool photos!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Betchai, you really make the most of life. I am not one to share my swimming space with sea creatures at all and I don't swim in cold water. Sometimes, even Caribbean locales didn't feel warm enough for me - though one could never resist swimming in such clear, turquoise seas.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's interesting to know "winter approaches, the waves and swell will just get bigger and bigger" .It cool off already in my area and I'm wearing jacket now. Good thing you could still enjoy the water in your area.

    ReplyDelete
  12. great to dive/snorkel with you too:-))indeed the visibility is sometimes cumbersome...

    ReplyDelete
  13. The garibaldi looks so pretty! I love snorkeling - makes you see them sea creatures upfront! what a great experience!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That is so great that you will have the moments to remember with the fishes and the adventure you spend with your love one is superb.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Those leopard sharks looks really cool!

    ReplyDelete
  16. It must have been a great experience for you. But swimming with sharks (even if they're harmless is a no-no to me). Who knows ..if they're hungry baka kainin ako.

    ReplyDelete
  17. wishing for you more calm days in the sea, Beth. i am always so envious *in a good way* how you get so up close with the gifts of nature.

    ReplyDelete
  18. It may sound stupid, but I need to ask Te Betchai. Do I need to learn to swim first before I can get to experience swimming with these sea creatures? :-)

    It must be one wonderful experience for you yet again, Te Betchai. I so look forward to your next adventure :-)

    Love and hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  19. You really are wonderwoman. Gee in a good way I am envious too haha, love those friendly sharks! :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. It was like I was there with you in those waters, betchai. To swim with the fishes must be such an amazing experience, I would like to do it someday. You inspire me to do it someday. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow! Ate B, you are really amazing! I couldn't do it, surely because I don't know how to swim plus I'm scared. Galing!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I like to experience diving someday... yes someday! It seems that many bloggers I know are now into diving.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Garibaldi. Now i learned few facts here. Thanks for sharing. Yep, it looks like a grumpy fish, but its bright color seem very fascinating.

    ReplyDelete

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!