Saturday, May 9, 2009

New Obsession: Underwater Voyeurism

Well its been a while since my last post. Truth be told, I'm really busy lately. Not that it's any excuse, but thats the main reason I haven't blogged. Like it or leave it. Its the end of the semester and its grade-time, and there's a thousand-and-one things to think about and do before the year is out and I'm gone.

I have found, however, a great way to 'recharge' my batteries, and mentally regroup a little bit on the weekends. This I do through snorkeling. The waters in the Gulf of Oman are some of the wildest and untamed in the world. What's better than that is they are largely unknown. Divers and Snorkelers come from all over the world, but only the ones 'in the know'. There are some fantastic things that only the Gulf has, like the worlds only population of non-migratory humpback wales, they chill here all year round! People usually see pods of dolphin, sharks, wales and all other sort of nautical goodies. I usually go to a nearby beach and swim around the local islands. Mostly aquarium type fish, with the occasional sea turtle if your lucky!

One option that does exist is taking a boat from a local beach resort (AL Sawadi) to some Islands that are about 40 min. away. These Isands (dymaniyat) are a big hit with divers from around the globe.

Well, I went this Fri (and I had an absolute blast!) I saw some of the coolest stuff I have ever seen in my life! It was one of the highlights of my existence so far , and the coolest thing I have done in recent memory . The whole trip only cost about 40$ too! Well, below is a list of the fish and stuff that I saw, each item has a link attached to a photo of that particular species of fish or amphibian. I was such a tool though, I didn't take a camera. I go in too weeks again, this time definitely bringing an underwater camera!
(Be advised these are only the fish that I knew the names of. When I tell you there were more species on these coral reefs than in the NE Aquarium, I'm not joking)

Sea Turtle
Devil Ray
Sting Ray
Honey Comb Moray Eel
Barracuda
Cuttlefish
Surgeon Fish
Parrot Fish
Yellow bar Angel fish

Here is a great video I found on youtube. It shows a lot of what I saw when I was out. Its really pretty awesome.

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