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Part 4: Midnight in the ocean of good and evil The nearest I got to the Turtle Cavern was on a night dive when a few of us went to the entrance to kneel down on the sandy shelf there and wait for the flashlight fish. Patrick was at the head of our little group and I swear he'd been taking speed-diving lessons from Danny, because we zipped along to our destination at quite a pace. He'd made it quite clear throughout the trip that he had little patience for faffing or time-wasting, but on this occasion he was taking the 'no faffing' rule just a bit too seriously. So with a fleeting glance at the bumphead parrotfish and the turtles sleeping in their crevices, a brief look at the crabs scurrying away from the torchlight and a little pause to play around with the bioluminescence, we headed directly and speedily to the cavern. 'Okay' signs from everyone, torches switched off and then we waited for the performance. And sure enough, out the fish came, twinkling like stars up above. It was totally captivating and I was mesmerised… well, for the couple of minutes that is that we were allowed to enjoy it before Patrick was on with his torch and ready to zoom back for his beer. On the topic of Patrick and night dives, there was one other little tale to tell. Franck and Patrick were slowly ascending from a night dive when Franck spotted something coming in from the blue a little above them. Oh, just another turtle gliding toward the wall for a good night's rest, Franck realized. The turtle was actually quite close to Patrick so, as a good buddy, Franck tried to catch his attention and warn him by crossing his torch beam with his own. But Patrick was too busy looking at the wall, probably inspecting some rare night-time nudibranch. Franck, who by this time was thinking he could have been attacked by a school of sharks and Patrick wouldn't have noticed, then witnessed the collision as the turtle banged straight into Patrick's neck. If the tales are to be believed, Patrick was undaunted, gave the turtle a little cuddle and calmly continued on the dive. Later that evening, back on shore, Patrick admitted that the reason he hadn't been that surprised was because he thought it was Franck hitting him! I just hope that Patrick wasn’t disappointed that Franck didn't give him a hug. After all, all Franck's underwater hugs were saved for Paul. There are many other tales that could be told about this trip, space and time permitting. Before I started writing the report, I was worried that there wouldn't be enough to write about. But as the memories came flooding back and everyone on the trip shared their experiences, I realized that the problem was going to be what I would have to exclude. What's most important is that it was a fantastic week's diving with a great group of people. And hopefully, between this account, the photos and the dive video, they're memories that will be with us for some time to come. |
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