Turtle love!

Thank goodness the swell that popped up yesterday was gone this morning and it was a gorgeous day!  I had just started out paddling when I saw a turtle under me so I stopped, then another turtle surfaced right next to me.  Turtles don’t hang out together or travel in pairs, so I wondered what these two were up to.  I watched them circle me and then go under the water facing each other and then back up to the surface next to my board.  I soon realized that these two were doing a turtle “mating” dance!  After a while, the turtles dove down and I could hardly see them.  I guess they wanted their privacy!!!  I continued on south with just a comfortable breeze blowing and when I passed Kam III, a big turtle popped up in front of me and then a second turtle joined us!  That was four turtles even before I got to the boat ramp!  Down at the boat ramp, the turtle day continued with eleven more turtles!  I was sitting there in the middle of four turtles when a Coast Guard boat cruised up.  I didn’t want them to think I was harassing the turtles, so I laid back on my board with my paddle laying across my hips so they could easily see that the turtles were choosing to be there by their own choice!  There is a fine possible if someone is harassing the turtles, but they could see that I was not doing that, so they moved away and left.  Too bad the Coast Guard is never around when snorkelers are chasing the turtles!  Anyway, the conditions stayed perfect as I paddled back and all the way through my swim.  Even the water visibility was improved from yesterday and I saw a school of about twenty blue and silver fish dart by and saw quite a few fish at the reef too.  It was just a gorgeous day with the wind holding off making it a perfect day in the water!  Woo Hoo!!