Turtles are not uncommon to see while snorkeling in the Caribbean, although every time I see one I still get a little excited. But this snorkel was different.
We had some time to explore the southeastern shore of Baradal – one of the small islands in the beautiful chain of islands in the Grenadines known as the Tobago Cays. There is a turtle reserve in the clear shallow waters here and we were told that you almost always will see turtles – green turtles and hawksbill turtles- feeding on sea grass there.
The area is phenomenal for snorkeling period, with it’s ultra clear water and abundant sea life and we were anxious to look below the surface.
Almost immediately I spotted several turtles, one quite close! Now I’m not one to feverishly swim after underwater wildlife (except for that one time that I chased a barracuda while snorkeling – not knowing what it was…NOW I DO.), so I stayed put, calmly just floating in the clearest water I’d ever seen. Both turtles swam away, probably searching for just the right patch of succulent sea grass. But suddenly, one of them turned around and came back my way.
As I floated there over his feeding ground, he swam right up to me! At first I wasn’t sure if I should be a little nervous or what. I’ve never heard of a green turtle attack on anyone so I continued to watch in amazement. He swam around me and under me – did I look different than other snorkelers?
He was so close that I could even hear him yanking the sea grass out of the ocean floor.
After what seemed to be quite a long time (it was probably just a few minutes!) my new turtle friend swam off to re-join the others.
Sure enjoyed my close encounter of the turtle kind. Sure nice of him to share his space with me.
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