Today we went to shore on the tender, to catch a trip on the "glass-bottomed" boat. It takes about a dozen passengers, and heads off to the reef at the point of the island. We stopped overtop the coral, and could see it just a couple of feet below us. Much of it colourless (I assume dead), and then fresh coral on top, rich in vibrant colours. A few tiny fish as well, very colourful.
Often we would see zig-zagging slots in the coral. On second look they were shellfish of some kind. Oyster, clam, something. They appeared to be built into the reef, as though the coral had grown over them, trapping them while they slept. On third look, they were actually alive, the shell opening and closing in a steady rhythm. Hope they don’t plan on moving any time soon.
The driver then dived overboard with snorkel gear, and, using a handful of fish‑food, lured the locals to our viewing windows. Suddenly gathered were hundreds of fish, all sizes, all types, all colours, all right there. We even saw a small moray eel ducking in and out of caves and crevices in the coral.
Sarah says she will never need to go to an aquarium again. This is just amazing. Every fish you saw on “Finding Nemo”? Right here!
The driver then showed us the reason for the distinct colour change in the water. Where we were, directly over the reef, the water was aquamarine. We rolled a few metres, and the sea floor disappeared over a cliff below us. The water above this was a dark navy blue. You could see the distinct line between the two colours. On the other side of the island, apparently the sea floor goes down more gradually, creating 3 colours on the surface.
On the way back, the driver handed the controls over to one of the passengers, while he sat in her seat, singing and playing the ukulele.
An odd thing while taking the tender to and from the island. There are local guys who ride canoes and paddle around. These are very narrow, but have an outrigger off to the side for stability. It looks like it would take a lot of effort to paddle anywhere. No wonder they are so athletic, these guys.
Anyway, as we take off, they jump into our wave wake, and just ride it. I guess it's like the way bikes would get into a slipstream behind a truck. Very dangerous, they need to be literally inches behind the truck to stay inside the vortex to avoiding the wind resistance. But cyclists still need to pedal, just not as hard.
These guys are different. They can get in the wake behind us, if they enjoy diesel exhaust. But I saw one today that got onto the wave and sat on our shoulder, literally beside us. And then he stopped paddling! Bizarre! He rode our side wave pretty much from the island to the ship, and I just don't understand the physics! He wasn't in a slipstream, he was beside us. He wasn't just reducing his energy requirement, he cut it to zero! He would only use the paddle if he wanted to adjust his position on the wave, or if he wanted to pull up further. A single stroke and he moved up about 2 feet. We were going pretty fast, and he just sat on our shoulder the whole way, with his paddle out of the water.
Surely there is some way to harness this energy!
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