From 
Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUponThe Silver Bank Reef
He was sinking like a stone in the Caribbean Sea, but Randy Thornton knew that if he opened his mouth to scream, he would drown. The normally tranquil reef had suddenly filled with bubbles, making it impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction. It was like being underwater in a Jacuzzi. Writhing in pain, Thornton tried desperately to swim to the surface. He was afraid to look down. Four days earlier, on the first day of his vacation, Thornton awoke with a start just after sunrise. Something was different. He looked over at his wife, Gwen. "Do you feel that?" he asked. They'd stopped moving. After a choppy, 12-hour yacht voyage, his snorkeling group had finally reached the Silver Bank reef, 80 nautical miles off the Dominican Republic. It is one of the few areas in the world where you can observe humpback whales and their young up close."Come on, let's go up," said Randy, pulling on his swim trunks. Gwen jumped out of bed and followed in her pajamas. She and Randy had waited years for this moment, to snorkel near whales in their natural environment. Seconds later, they were on the deck of the 120-foot Turks & Caicos Aggressor II, taking deep breaths of sea air and leaning against the rail to look out over the shimmering water.
Randy and Gwen watched as a dark-gray humpback breached, throwing its 40-ton body into the air with the ease of an 80-pound gymnast. When the whale landed 100 feet from the boat, the sound was deafening, like a thunderclap accompanied by a heavy rain. Droplets of water from the splash shrouded the deck in a fine mist.
The couple were nearly in tears. How could a creature the size of a city bus move with such grace? They were joined by several members of their Utah-based group and by the boat's captain, Piers Van Der Walt, who came every season from Turks and Caicos Islands to ferry tourists to Silver Bank. As Van Der Walt pointed out three other whales surfacing near the boat, spouting water from their blowholes, everyone rushed from one side of the deck to the other. One whale came within 25 feet, bobbing part of its head out of the water to check out the Aggressor with its saucer-size left eye.
Advertisement 
Your Comments
See all
...
Post your commentCancel