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The Sea of Abaco

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Preserving the creatures of the Sea
Preserving the creatures of the Sea

In the Bahamas is the sea of Abaco. It is surrounded by Little Abaco in part, Great Abaco and several small Cayes. The sea of Abaco is very protected from storms and even when a substantial storm arrived on the last day of our sailing trip, it did not make the water very rough for sailing. Marsh harbor is the largest town in the area and has an airport and a nice harbor. The sea of Abaco is roughly 30 feet deep at its deepest and it appears that most of the diving is done in the “cuts” where water flows in and out of the sea. In the “cuts” the fish life is impressive. One of the fish that we found quite frequently were Nassau groupers.

Although groupers may make great tasting dinners, their stocks are under significant pressure from over fishing. Hopefully, groupers will not go the way of the dinasauers. They are the puppies of the sea, and can be remarkably friendly. Gary, as I referred to this fellow liked my camera and spent several minutes posing.

Bahamas, Sharks, wide angle

Shark with Sun Burst

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Grey reef shark
Grey reef shark swimming overhead

The simplicity of design and the efficiency of sharks underwater makes it evident why sharks have survived on earth for millions of years. The impact of people on sharks is undeniable and sad. If we lose these majestic animals we will lose alot. Apex predators serve a very important purpose in nature. I hope we do not push them to extinction. Here is a short clip demonstrating their ability to move efficiently through the water.

Bahamas, wide angle

What kind of diver are you?

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The sharks that are feed in Nassau Bahamas are grey reef sharks. Even though they are not overly aggressive, they do lose teeth trying to grab and chew on the bits of chum. In a way this image does reflect the level of interest that you may find on many dives. Some divers will absorb all of the available information about the dive, while others appear to be rather bored or disinterested.

Bahamas, wide angle

Sun burst Turtle

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Some dives are just magical
Some dives are just magical

On our first shark dive in Nassau Bahamas we were heading to the bottom. The grey reef sharks were starking to come into the dive site, but were very hesitant to mingle with a relatively large group of divers, 23 or so divers were in our group. So while the sharks were trying to determine if they wanted to check out our group I came across a hawksbill turtle at about 40 feet. He was heading to the surface so I followed him up for a while before I could get him between me and the sun. I thought about turning off the stobes so he would be only visible as a silhouette. But, decided his shell would add interest to the image.