A peek at the REAL Thumbster

Diving Down

Hi again.

I'm feeling more like my old self today...which is great. I'd much rather feel happy than sad.

It's been raining here steady today. I'm expecting somebody to stop by sometime but I'm not sure now coz of the weather. Normally I don't watch much TV on Saturdays but I seen something today I wish I had taped...all about some unknown creature that's killing seals off an island fairly close to where I live...(give or take several hundred kilometers). These killings have been going on now for at least ten years.

It's the pattern of the seal's injuries that's so mysterious...almost surgically clean spiral cuts starting at the seal's midsection and progressing upwards until the head is reached. Apparently no where else on earth have seal injuries like these been reported. This island is 300 kilometers off the mainland and totally isolated. Many of the dead seals wash ashore still bleeding and warm indicating that they're being killed close to shore.

Ooooooooooooooooo Ever creepy. Some of the dead seals have only their spinal column left between their untouched heads and perfectly cut midsection. It was an hour long documentary...with a team of scientists trying to catch whatever's killing the seals and how they went about it. In the end they still don't know what's doing it...(most of the attacks occur during the winter when the waters are thought to be too cold for many shark species to be present). Their best guess is their killer(s) is a Greenland shark(s)...although the big Greenlands are supposedly quite slow while seals are very nimble in the water.

I'm absolutely fascinated by stuff like this...anything to do with cryptozoology (sp?)...the study of unknown creatures...especially unknown aquatic critters. In a way that's why I got into diving to begin with...not knowing what's out there. I understand there are more kinds of organisms in the water than everything found on land...many more times in fact...and that includes all the birds and little furries,bugs and plants put together. 75% or so of this planet is aquatic. The biggest beasties are also found in the water. I've been whale watching...only a coastal drive away from where I live and it truly is impressive to see large marine creatures close up and in the wild.

My first deep water ocean dive off a small ship was very memorable. The number one rule of diving is to never dive alone...guess my diving buddy forgot that coz he was one of the first over the side. I was the rookie and also found myself last off the boat. The water where I live isn't anything like the tropics. I've dived in Florida and in the Mediterrian...where the water is so warm, clear and inviting. Here it's friggin' cold and very murky. I don't like the thought of suddenly coming face to face with something.

Up here I can only see 20 feet or so at the best of times. When I'm heading to the bottom off a boat...especially when diving in waters I'm unfamilar with it seems to take forever to reach the bottom. There's that long creepy state between the surface and when I can finally see the bottom on the way down that bugs me the most. Once on the bottom I feel more at ease. A face mask doesn't give much of a view of your surroundings. Actually I haven't gone deep water diving in sometime. I now prefer to stick close to shore. I guess I've become a bigger chicken as I get older.

My first deep water dive I couldn't find my buddy. I suppose I should have surfaced immediately but when I finally reached the ocean floor I was stunned to find countless lobsters all happily marching along. The floor was literally covered with them. As I approached they'd turn and show me their impressive claws. Everything appears larger underwater but I still respected their snapping claws. I took it for granted this was an everyday thing on the ocean bottom around here. It wasn't until later on the ship that I realized how unusual seeing all those lobsters was. The dive master wrote a story about it in a diving magazine. I guess they were migrating. Ever neat.

Diving in some of our lakes here can be very unnerving coz there is 0% visiblity coz some of them are basically bogs. Not all lakes...some are so clear and clean the bottoms are clearly visible from the surface 25 feet below. The totally dark ones give me the willies though...not being able to see my own hands in front of my face. Not being able to tell which way's up...(except for the bubbles)...is really spooky. I haven't dived in any dark lakes in sometime either. (I know I know...I'm a big wussie)

There's a place nearby where something of value was thrown in some water. The place is quite deep and under a waterfall. I can handle that...but I know there are eels there and I can't say I feel all that comfortable around them. We always felt very comfortable before we knew they were there. They'd leave us alone...never any problems. One time somebody noticed a young one...only a couple of inches long...no biggie. Then we started looking for them and saw lots more. It's after we started seeing the adults when we all became big babies. We still go back there but not nearly as often...and for me anyways...I tend to watch where I put my hands and feet.

Seeing that documentary has rekindled my curiousity once again. Being underwater can be thrilling. The sea can be so powerful and inviting.

I suppose I should wrap this up and answer some emails. In the meantime...

Leave the big ones alone...
Watch out for the really big ones...
Avoid the really big, mean ones...and just hope you never run into the really big, mean, hungry ones.



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