Petting the Turtle

All the sick minded people can stop reading right now, the title is not a euphemism for something else. This is seriously about petting a turtle. Or should I say THE turtle.

This was one of the largest Hawksbills I have ever seen. Seriously. It was huge. We picked up a mooring at Maho Bay, and a minute later saw it surface. Until I saw it up close and personal while snorkeling, I didn't realize how large it was.

So a careful approach, and I quickly realized it was not afraid of me at all. It let me slowly swim up to it and pet its shell. Had I wanted to, I could have easily held on and gone for a ride. But my purpose was not to pester the beautiful creature, and it seemed more than happy to have me help clean its shell.

There were two remoras attached to it, though they mostly hung on to the bottom of the shell. And they were quite large themselves. Once in a while they switched it up to the top, but mostly stayed hidden underneath.

The really cool part about this all was the person I was with. As far as I know, she was not an experienced snorkeler. And she was visiting, she doesn't live here. Of course she was amazed at its size, and then when i saw her dive down and pet it, I too was amazed. What an incredible experience for somebody visiting the territory. I still wonder if she believes me when I tell her how rare it is to pet a turtle, and that goes especially to one so large.

Good times...