Bat Island - Big Scare and Black Rock

The ninety minute boat ride was about my limit as I could feel the ocean catching up to me. We were entertained by a school of dolphins and some Pilot whales. Amazing creatures who seem to enjoy the intrusion and interuption of the wake of the boat. They raced ahead of the boat and played in the wake. I was lucky to catch one of the Pilot whales breaching the surface. We dove at Big Scare and Black Rock.

The Bat Island(s) are what are left from what was surely a connected finger of volcanic rock. Connected to the mainland we were very near the Nicaraguan border. A large out cropping several hundred feet tall maybe 2-3 miles off shore. A string of small islands, one of which is the a national park make up these islands.  We did our surface interval at the national park where fishing is protected. We saw some heavily armed officers engaging some local poachers. At that point the divemaster and captain thought it best that we move along.

Diving in the big ocean was/is an experience. You begin to understand how small we all are. The bull sharks were out and we enjoyed from a distance their eerie shadows in the murky, turbulent water. About a dozen of these magnificent creatures made their way across our path. We and they kept our respective distance appreciating from afar. Strangely I thought carefully about where I needed to put my knife last night. I wanted to be sure it was readily available from either hand. In case the digits on one hand became part of a meal I wanted to be able to discourage further dining with the other...

We ran into a number of dark green eels. One of the highlights was the encounter with a smallish octopus. Amazing creatures that seem to absorb the ocean floor as they move. They are able to mimic their surroundings which makes them very difficult to see, except when they get angry or are threatened. Apparently we were threatening with our cameras as the animal suddenly flashed and turned white, puffed up and got as big as it could.  An amazing display of nature.  We moved on having caught some of the display on film.

The trip back was uneventful and was pretty tired from the dive. Went to 91 feet today, the deepest dive of the trip. I was reminded how fast you burn O2 when you're that deep. Makes for short dives.