Eleven turtles!

Our beach is still suffering from the storm run-off and the water is still tinged brown.  Paddling conditions were perfect, though, so I went out!  It’s been like a ghost town out there the past two days but the conditions have been perfect!  I paddled down to the boat ramp and as I paddled past Kam III, I noticed that the water was clear already.  That is a good sign, so I hope Kam I and II start to see some real improvement soon!  Just as I was paddling into the boat ramp area, I heard someone yelling to me.  It was a paddling friend so we paddled to the boat ramp together.  Almost immediately, five turtles surfaced and we were surrounded!  Then there were three turtles and two turtles …..and then the red pontoon snorkel boat moved in.  One of the crew told me that they had seen a shark hanging around the area in the past couple of days…..but I know they are always out there so it didn’t freak me out.  After all the snorkelers jumped in the water, my friend and I decided to paddle back.  Just as we were passing Kam III, a turtle surfaced right in front of me, so I had to stop and visit!  That made eleven turtles for today!  I paddled back to Kam I, and dreaded the brown water.  I paddled as close to the shoreline as possible and then quickly jumped off my board, grabbed it and came in!  I didn’t want to be in that water any longer than I absolutely had to.  I took my board home and headed south to look for a place to swim.  I ended up at the beach by the Mana Kai Resort and although there were a lot of people there, at least the water was pristine!  I watched Spinner Dolphins jumping and racing along with a boat!  Then I headed out for my swim and ran into a big turtle!   I swam with it for a while and then swam down by the coral reefs to look for fish.  I spotted a really big Unicorn fish too!  Then the wind blew in while I was swimming and the water got rough with white caps.  I swam just in time!  It was not bad for an “alternate” beach for swimming either!!