Hello Fellow Divers,
Please do not leak this to the press... Florida is in the middle of a tourist slump already with all of them thar greedy sharks off of our coast, and a few indiscreet gators in our lakes and rivers (and pools, and houses, and you name it)... We won't even go into all of the poisonous snakes, spiders, insects and plants. You might think this state is un-friendly or something.
(With an Australian accent, please)So, here I was at 60 ft, slowy approaching a medium sized Loggerhead to take a picture. It was a buet! Suddenly it turns toward me, I frame the picture and take it as the viscious Loggerhead fills the veiw finder. Then I realise that... HE'S AFTER ME!!! oooooweeeeee!!!! Don't try this at home kiddies, these Loggerheads really mean business.
With a cold shiver going down my spine I try to elude the beast. I go up it goes up, I turn it turns. (My son, in the meanwhile, is simply laughing at the sight!) Finally, out of breath and my back against the wall, I turn and face it down. It doesn't know what to do, so it turns. ooooweeee That was close! What's a bloke to do???
(OK, OK, I sligtly embellished it, and my apologies to any Steve Irwin (or is that Urkle) fans.)(And no, I don't think ANY other Aussies are like ol' Steve) (Except for maybe the Gasman... oops... just call that a Freudian slip :tease: )
Seriously though, I beleive that this turtle had been fed by previous divers, and that he was wanting a hand out. I know turtles are higher up evolutionarily speaking... but just as it was a little disturbing to have a loggerhead follow me for a bit, I would have been quite un-nerved by a shark doing the same thing! Nurse, spinner, sand or reef, they all gots teeth!
:tease:
Please do not leak this to the press... Florida is in the middle of a tourist slump already with all of them thar greedy sharks off of our coast, and a few indiscreet gators in our lakes and rivers (and pools, and houses, and you name it)... We won't even go into all of the poisonous snakes, spiders, insects and plants. You might think this state is un-friendly or something.
(With an Australian accent, please)So, here I was at 60 ft, slowy approaching a medium sized Loggerhead to take a picture. It was a buet! Suddenly it turns toward me, I frame the picture and take it as the viscious Loggerhead fills the veiw finder. Then I realise that... HE'S AFTER ME!!! oooooweeeeee!!!! Don't try this at home kiddies, these Loggerheads really mean business.
With a cold shiver going down my spine I try to elude the beast. I go up it goes up, I turn it turns. (My son, in the meanwhile, is simply laughing at the sight!) Finally, out of breath and my back against the wall, I turn and face it down. It doesn't know what to do, so it turns. ooooweeee That was close! What's a bloke to do???
(OK, OK, I sligtly embellished it, and my apologies to any Steve Irwin (or is that Urkle) fans.)(And no, I don't think ANY other Aussies are like ol' Steve) (Except for maybe the Gasman... oops... just call that a Freudian slip :tease: )
Seriously though, I beleive that this turtle had been fed by previous divers, and that he was wanting a hand out. I know turtles are higher up evolutionarily speaking... but just as it was a little disturbing to have a loggerhead follow me for a bit, I would have been quite un-nerved by a shark doing the same thing! Nurse, spinner, sand or reef, they all gots teeth!
:tease:
