Day Two (continued): Please ignore the previous entry


while i would like to thank our previous guest writer, that would be the last time i let a starfish write for me. it was a day filled with adventures and instead of reliving the fun, the stupid living christmas decor decided to use my blog to air his grievances...

Apart from the starfish experiment (everything ethical), i found happiness that day starting on a sand castle. With a shovel, a small plastic pail, and a styrofoam cup as molds, i never went far. The warm beer i brought helped me accept the fact that without the proper vision (or molds), i can never create a decent hasbro or lego-type castle. Of course, my companions have long since abandoned me in this effort - they had to sleep away the effects of snorkeling a few hours earlier.

Ah, a new favorite activity of mine, snorkeling. I realized while swimming with the fishes that i loved those national geographic shows for a reason. it was exhilarting to see living creatures darting around and singularly avoiding you. you consciously try to spot one brightly-colored specimen, but in trying to do so, you lose sight of everything else. and when you turn around, everybody has gone.

kinda reminds me of the 90s bars i used to frequent. i'm such a pathetic loser.

Anyway, i won't even pretend to know what species of fishes i saw. It's enough to say they were bright and colorful, and they look better alive in their natural environment rather than dead or in a fish tank.

The fish are sparse by discovery channel standards, and it takes a while for you to spot them. Of course, i got impatient at first but then i realized that millions of years have been spent evolving their appearance so they'd stay undetected by casual glances. once your eyes have adjusted, and they see no threat in your movements, they'll soon spring out from their hiding places.

What i saw amazed me. Neon green and black striped ones, red-eyed yellow ones, a neon blue striped one, even bright orange ones that wouldn't come out of the corals. there were even black fishes with purplish outlines (Kings fishes, as Nel would call them). The sights were so wonderful that it didn't faze us even when the coral revealed jagged cliffs that led to bottomless pits. the coral seemed lifeless though, but i'll attribute that to the relative calmness of the ocean.

A nice, clean, calm ocean. I always thought i'd see one, but i never expected i'd enjoy it this much.

Comments

Kai said…
The most concentrations of corals and fishes are usually along a "wall," that sheer cliff-like ridge that drops off to the ocean floor.

Love you for choosing Palawan in the future. Not Puerto Princesa, though, I hope. You won't see much there.

Here are some of the best snorkeling sites in the country, guaranteed to take your breath away: Apo Island in Zamboanguita/Dauin off Dumaguete, Balicasag Island off Alona Beach in Bohol, Moalboal in Southern Cebu.

The nearest decent one is Big LaLaguna in Puerto Galera, but it is for kids (relative to me, of course, hehe).
10:37 PM
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