Cracker by Damian Christie

David, that was truly an awesome post!
I loved it - because it is yet another window into a world I revere/relish/wish-to-inhabit - and I cant. Put a dive-mask on me and I have instant claustraphobia...

but your pics! Tino pai! And the manta rays...long let out of breath-
I cant envy you, just enjoy what you have posted.

Side comment: anyone read a somewhat rare book called "The Girl From The Sea Of Cortez"? The only novel I know of that has a manta ray as it hero...by Peter Benchley. Yeah, the 'Jaws' writer...

David, that was truly an awesome post!

Word. That was a, uhm, cracker.
Ok, I'll get my coat and my scuba gear.

Ahhhh, the things our noble PA bloggers put themselves through to brighten our reading!!

Btw....it's fuckin freezing in Welly.

But by all means, ponce around in the sun and sea for our vicarious pleasure and edification.

</visciously envious mini-rant>

Mantas are the biggest of the rays (also known as 'Devil Rays') and can grow over seven metres from wingtip to wingtip, although between three and five metres is more common (and still farking huge).

Holy crap.

No doubt their magic will be spoilt at some future stage by having some sort of Manta Rays terrorises beach resort thriller movie out of them. With horrendously unrealistic mouth sizes and stingers.

David, that was truly an awesome post!

Um, it's Damian, but thanks :)

With horrendously unrealistic mouth sizes and stingers.

Fortunately Mantas don't have stingers (although they do have hundreds of rows of small teeth to filter plankton which could probably be turned into something nasty) - not that Hollywood would have to let the facts stop them from ignoring that to make "Devil Fish - Terror of the Deep"

Oh, and Michael - I'm back, just quietly, but I've still got at least one post from overseas to get through before I resume normal NZ transmission... so let's all imagine I'm still on the beach, I certainly will be. But this Wednesday, I'll be visiting the freezing capital too.

DAMIAN - that smush sound is my forehead meeting the concrete in grovelling apology for not getting your name right..smush again. I blame it on the ad strip which must've primed my eye & primitive brain with "David" just as I was recovering from facing a blank letterless space...

if you/anyone gets to read "The Girl From The Sea Of Cortez", you'll see he's got the film angle covered (the manta smashes the baddies' boat, rescues - nah, go read the thing) but he is a marine biologist and diver, and what he writes in that guise works for this surface swimmer-

These photos are a beautiful way to whet the appetite Damien.I thank you. Sadly, I am a fool in deep waters (and large waves)and as Islander wrote, get all claustrophobic. I actually blame my parents for the decision to build a swimming pool when I was young ;)
It sounds like you had a great hol, lucky you.Glad you got home in one piece (assumption only)

Oh shit, sorry Damian (not Dami en)

Oh shit, sorry Damian

I suggest we just start calling him "Bob". He's not going to mind. Right, Bob?

B-you-t-full!

That sounded glorious. I always seem to miss the good stuff when I'm diving: manta rays, turtles, nudibraches. Ever since The Silent One, I've always wanted to ride a turtle underwater.

Damian, Damien, I'm used to that one. Damon I always have issues with, cos it's like a whole syllable off... And yup, 'Bob' 'll do. :)

My gf has the same issue with claustrophobia, and I think that's probably the most common issue people have learning to dive. I wonder how much of that just comes down to good, patient instruction from someone you get along with, not being rushed and so forth.

Breathing underwater is not natural, and I think a little fear is healthy - I've had friends learn to dive who are completely cavalier from the outset, skipping the safety steps, not sticking with a buddy underwater, and frankly that scares me on their behalf, let alone what happens if I get in trouble while diving with them.

All I'm saying is don't necessarily write it off - especially if you've tried it once on one of those "discover scuba diving" things where they talk to you for half an hour and then push you into the water...

Mark: Riding turtles underwater is kinda like dressing chimps up and getting them to do tea parties at the zoo - great fun, but not really looked upon too well these days. But those were my first turtles, and first mantas - Nudibranches are pretty common up at Poor Knights, have you dived there? I'm planning another trip there in the next month or so perhaps...

I'm one of those who go crazy over finding nudibranchs - that's a very choice photo! Awesome pics, great blog and welcome back (unofficially, of course).