No laughing... really...

[scubajb]

OK, i'm trying to get all "learned" up about the diving around Grand Cayman for my upcoming trip. Doing lots of reading on the net for dive shops, dive sites, etc. And Tom at the Aggressor has been a ton of help! I have two unresolved questions...

1. No laughing now... I have read several references to a large quantity of "palegic" life. Now me being a landlocked boy, I relate palegic to dang fish in the ocean. But, not wanting to tell my wife after she comes to face to face with a palegic that scares her (and thus getting my butt kicked which isn't that bad but that's a different story), can someone give me a better definition of what "palegic" really means? We dove with sharks in the Bahamas and saw a couple in the keys so don't expect a problem but I better find out!
2. I'm still looking for shallow wreck dive sites around Grand Cayman. I've read of a couple but does anyone have ideas? My son who is a junior ow diver and limited to 40 feet is a wreck fanatic (thanks to his buddy John C. and I really want to put him on one (no penetration obviously...)

Alright, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Jim

 

[SteveAD]

Never heard the word palegic before, but pelagic is a reference to fish that live in mid-water, usually in deep areas. As opposed to the fish which most people see down near the reef structure. Pelagics are usually fairly fast, streamlined fish such as tuna, or swordfish.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

The word "pelagic" means nothing more than "out in the open ocean". It can refer to anything, but is often used as a shortened form for pelagic animals, which is basically any animal that lives in the open ocean as opposed to close to shore. The fancy term for "close to shore" is littoral. So for all practical purposes, when divers talk about pelagic, they mean the big critters that you don't find near the shore very often, such as big fast swimming sharks, manta rays, tuna and the like. On the other hand, nurse sharks, stingrays and critters like that would be considered as inhabiting the littoral.
Either way, there is no danger from being attacked by either one. Hope this helps.