scubafool
Contributor
I needed to get my weighting pegged with my steel tank in preparation for being attacked by sharks next weekend. So I went to Alexander Springs this morning for some in water time.
The morning was clear, but cold and windy. There weren't very many people there, I think that I saw a total of 5 people in the water all of the time I was there. I geared up and took the long walk down from the parking lot. Reg checks, mask off breathing, and a trim check. Needed to adjust the tank in the BC straps to keep my feet down where they belong. OK, that done, and I finned off toward the boil, carrying a selection of hard weights with snaps attached to them. As I approached the basin, I could see what appeared to be several turtles swimming around. This is a real treat, as usually they hide in the vegetation along the shoreline due to the large number of people present during the day. I dropped down along the edge of the boil a short way, and paused to let the turtles play for a while before I disturbed their playground.
But I shortly noticed a most odd happening. The turtles seemed to be disappearing. I would be watching one, let my gaze wander to another turtle, but when I looked back, no turtle. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what was going on. What was happening was, the turtles were burrowing into the sand. I could not tell where they were, for the most part. Every once in awhile, a head would pop up out of the sand. The turtle would look around for a while, no less than 5 minutes, sometimes more. And then, out would come the whole turtle, sand shedding from it's shell all the way to the surface. A few gulps of air, and then back down to the weeds to feed or back down to the sand to hide for another nap. The first one I saw burying itself still hadn't moved an hour later when I ended the dive.
I have many, many dives here, but I honestly had NO idea as to the amount of turtles that call this spring home. And to see this most odd behaviour was a special treat.
Finally, after nearly an hour underwater, I was starting to get really cold. I purged my tank down to a rather low pressure, dialed in my weight, and sprinted for the hot showers in the bath house.
The morning was clear, but cold and windy. There weren't very many people there, I think that I saw a total of 5 people in the water all of the time I was there. I geared up and took the long walk down from the parking lot. Reg checks, mask off breathing, and a trim check. Needed to adjust the tank in the BC straps to keep my feet down where they belong. OK, that done, and I finned off toward the boil, carrying a selection of hard weights with snaps attached to them. As I approached the basin, I could see what appeared to be several turtles swimming around. This is a real treat, as usually they hide in the vegetation along the shoreline due to the large number of people present during the day. I dropped down along the edge of the boil a short way, and paused to let the turtles play for a while before I disturbed their playground.
But I shortly noticed a most odd happening. The turtles seemed to be disappearing. I would be watching one, let my gaze wander to another turtle, but when I looked back, no turtle. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what was going on. What was happening was, the turtles were burrowing into the sand. I could not tell where they were, for the most part. Every once in awhile, a head would pop up out of the sand. The turtle would look around for a while, no less than 5 minutes, sometimes more. And then, out would come the whole turtle, sand shedding from it's shell all the way to the surface. A few gulps of air, and then back down to the weeds to feed or back down to the sand to hide for another nap. The first one I saw burying itself still hadn't moved an hour later when I ended the dive.
I have many, many dives here, but I honestly had NO idea as to the amount of turtles that call this spring home. And to see this most odd behaviour was a special treat.
Finally, after nearly an hour underwater, I was starting to get really cold. I purged my tank down to a rather low pressure, dialed in my weight, and sprinted for the hot showers in the bath house.
