Dory? Is That You?

A Blue Tang

Snorkeling!  Now there's a sport I can get into.  You see, as a musician and an organist specifically, I have never been and never will be athletic.  I know it and everyone who knows me knows it.  But, once in awhile, I pretend I am athletic and try a "sporting activity".

I've always loved to swim--in a pool that is.  I am one who needs to mentally "know" where the bottom is.  Even if I can't physically reach it, I am comfortable swimming if I know the depth will never be over ten feet.  I have, however, always been intrigued with the ocean and love walking ocean beaches, but swimming in the ocean?  Well, that's another thing altogether. 

However, on my first trip to Hawaii, I decided to do just that!  Swim in the ocean--sort of.  Not knowing how deep the ocean was at any given moment, my "swimming" consisted of lying on a boogie board and paddling away with feet and hands feeling secure and confident in my ocean "swimming" abilities.

This style of "swimming" however, did allow me to experience the creatures of the ocean through a snorkel mask.  Lying on my boogie board with mask securely clamped to my face, flippers on my feet and hands free to maneuver the board I was ready to experience the "depths" of Hanauma Bay. 

Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii

What an amazing world opened before my eyes!  Fish of all colors, shapes and sizes; coral and anemones galore;  jellyfish and urchins; a whole marine world!  Paddling along secure on my board, face in the water, breathing through my snorkel tube, life was bliss!

Suddenly, gasping for air, choking on water and flailing about I became just another white-bodied tourist among the literally hundreds in Hanauma Bay!  What caused this major disturbance in the force?

Ah, a sea turtle!  A sea turtle making its slow and deliberate way across the reaches of the Bay.  A sea turtle was just what I had hoped to see, but instead of enjoying its graceful beauty I had been so discombobulated by its sudden appearance that all I could do was choke and sputter and hope for another sea turtle sighting, which of course, on that first snorkel outing never did happen.

Dory sent word around to her sea buddies--avoid the woman lying on the boogie board pretending to know what she's doing.