When I was a little boy I used to watch a typically Dutch
cartoon character called ‘Alfred Jodokus Kwak’. Alfred was a duck who got himself
into a range of adventures trying to do the right thing. One particular episode
he comes across an island that seems to be moving. This island, with vegetation
and houses and all, turns out to be a giant turtle. I don’t remember what happens
in the cartoon, since it has been many years, but during a night dive I did last
week at Snake Pit on the Ribbon Reefs I could not help to think of the Alfred J
Kwak and his giant turtle adventure.
I am not a big fan of night diving and usually try to
avoid them if I can. But this faithful night I had to cover for a colleague and
am I glad that I did.
We were moored up at a dive site called Snake Pit. Since
the site is very exposed we can only go there when the weather is calm and for me
it was the first time at this site. I had done a dive during the day to scope
out the place.
Snake Pit is a big mound on the seabed that slopes down
to about 30 mtr. It is very easy to get lost on the plateau that makes up the
top of the mound. Following the edge is your best bet in making it back to the
boat. Turns out that the edge is also the best place to go. A fringe along the
crest and down the slopes of the underwater hill of healthy brain, plate and
finger corals. A few bommies are dotted along the top reaching for the shallows
up to about 5 mtrs. The numbers of feather stars are off the scale. In all
colors and sizes these gracious filter feeders ‘fight’ for the best spot to
stretch out their arms and collect their food.
The site is named after the many sea snakes that
frequently visit the area, but barracuda, lionfish, surgeon and unicorn fish
and the occasional reef shark call it home as well. But this dive it was all
about the turtles. As I approached one of the bommies at the top I noticed the
flipper of a green turtle and couldn’t believe what I saw. The flipper was the
same size as the average turtle I see on a day to day basis. I swam around to
get a closer look and to the surprise of the divers I was guiding started to do
an underwater dance of euphoria. What I saw was a dinner table size male green
turtle sleeping with his head stuck under a piece of coral. I had never seen a
turtle that big and was elated. This was already turning into an epic night
dive. As I turn around a female green turtle of the same dimensions comes in to
check out what the commotion is about. Two of these dinosaurs on the same dive!
Does it get any better than this? The answer is yes. In the next 45 minutes we
saw 4 more of these giants. Some a bit shy, some just ignoring us looking at us
angrily for disturbing their nap.
A cute 30cm long baby grey reef shark vacates the area as
soon as our dive lights move in its direction. A great barracuda however is not
as shy and catches a fish confused by the beams of light not 1 mtr away from
me.
It feels like everything on this dive site is on
steroids. That everything is just a few sizes bigger than usual. From feather star
to unicorn fish and barracuda to turtles.
Every one exits the water smiling from ear to ear,
talking about the giant turtles and hunting barracudas.
I wonder if this is how Alfred J Kwak felt after he met a
giant turtle for the first time.
