I knew this day was going to be challenging. We had 17 knots of wind and the waves were moving in the opposite direction. The sea was very choppy and the waves were steep and tight together. Throughout the day I constantly had to blow water out off my snorkel. Some waves broke right on top of me, I had to hold my breath until my snorkel was clear and I could inhale again.
In the first four hours, I took my break every two hours but then I changed it to every hour, I was getting hungry.
During one of my last breaks, I saw a grey shadow coming toward me, it was about fifteen feet away and 5 to 6 feet wide. I quickly put back on my goggles and looked under the surface.
A huge sunfish was swimming in our direction. Ty and Brain on the dinghy passed me a GoPro and I followed it. It didn’t increase its speed and let me come right next to him. It tilted its body sideways and looked right at me. It was so close that I could have grabbed on its dorsal fin. After swimming for a bit together, it started diving a little deeper, I stopped and watched this big circle disappeared into the blue.
Weather conditions:
Overcast (could coverage 6/8)
Wind speed: 20 kts
Wind direction: E
Waves height: 1-2 m
Waves direction: E
Water temperature: 26.8°C
4 thoughts on “[DAY 128] The Sunfish”-
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What an awesome and wonderful encounter!
wonderful meeting, the last time I saw one, it was in the Monterey Aquarium
These encounters you are having with the inhabitants of the deep Pacific, have a sort of sacred quality to them, if I may put it that way. Because there is no harmful intention from the human side. Usually with encounters between humans and ocean creatures, there’s a motive of exploitation involved, but the motive here is pure love and respect for the ocean and it’s creatures. Thank you.
Awesome just awesome