In my college days, I took a scuba class where we learned how to skin dive first i.e mask fins and snorkel before we learned how to scuba dive and we practiced a lot. Now that we are in the Bahamas around all these tropical islands I am getting back into skin diving and have been doing as much as possible lately and also mainly in search of a big juicy LOBSTER! MAN i want a lobster so bad.
Yesterday after we left Great Harbor Cay we went and anchored in "Slaughter Harbor" and as soon as we anchored I jumped in my wetsuit and went looking for a lobster after checking to make sure our anchor was set well. I swam about a 1/3 mile to the rocky shore all about 15 feet deep and saw a sting ray, lots of conch (smaller ones) and a beach chair on the bottom. As soon as i got to the rocks i found a huge conch and lots of small reef fish and star fish all over the place. Sea urchins and anemones and sponges. Then i saw the antenna of a lobster! a big looking one with thick antennas. I mentally prepared and went for his antenna and right as i grabbed hold he slipped away pulling hard through my fingers back under his big rock. i couldn't believe it. I dove all around the shore looking for another one with no luck coming back to the first rock to see if he had re-emerged but nothing. I couldn't lift the rock so i had to let it go. The crew almost didn't believe me so i can't wait to bring back a lobster and prove IT.
So lobster around there have to have at least a 6" tail in order to be harvested legally. They don't want everyone taking all the baby lobster. So today has been my third attempt at lobster hunting. We anchored in between Hoffmann and Devils Cay and Trevor, Deb and Adam went south to Devils Cay to try and find a blue hole that is somewhere in the middle of the island. They say they saw it but couldn't get there due to the dense plant growth and lack of trails.
Meanwhile I proceeded to dive the entire cove we were anchored in looking for a big fat lobster for dinner. I saw... two large sea turtles one right under the boat and one hiding in the coral, more fish than ever some red, some blue, some tiny yellow and black and some very pointy with huge black eyes. Sea Urchins are all over the place too hiding in the rocks and you have to be very careful if you are walking on the bottom.
I took a rest on a small island with a beach and walked up the hill to take some pictures and there were hermit crabs everywhere just like in the pet store only all over the ground so that you had to be careful where you stepped or you might crush one. I also found some garbage on the little island unfortunately. Some bottles, an old fire pit, a broken pair of shoes and some plastic stuff. I didn't see any trash in the harbor however which was nice.
So the hunt for a lobster continues...stay tuned.