Page 69 - AlertDiver_Summer2011_web

www.alertdiver.com | 67

I

n the approaching distance, we see a splash and then another. “What is that?” asks my dive buddy. We’re perched at the front of a small boat, headed from the mainland of Moalboal, Cebu, toward nearby Pescador Island. We have hit it just right — a sardine run began just before we arrived, and there are reports of huge bait balls at our planned dive site. “Is that a mobula ray jumping?” We watch as the animal heaves itself out of the ocean once again. “No…” he says in a quiet, almost reverent voice. “Look at that tail. It’s a thresher!” A hush falls over the boat as we watch, amazed, a thresher shark repeatedly breaching, its characteristic tail arching away from its body like a long whip. After a few minutes, the silence is broken by several expletives, as the realization dawns that not one of us has a topside camera. We’re incredulous and moved, and it’s clear that plenty of mental imaging is taking place.

Learningto expect the unexpected

B y A n d y S a l l m o n a n d A l l i s o n V i t s k y

A pair of Coleman shrimp rest on a fire urchin in Anilao.