Snorkel Sail Aboard "The Pepper"
24/12/07 06:23 Filed in: Vacation
Mon 24 Dec - Today's a snorkel
sail abort The Pepper (which was
hand-built here on the island). Fred and Rene
have sailed The Pepper year-round since 1998 and
host daily snorkel and sunset tours of the
island. Today we sailed out to Whistling Cay and
hit some great snorkeling spots that most
tourists never get to see. We were in 20 to 40
feet of water, so we had to dive down to get a
close up view of anything. The water was
beautifully clear, although there were some
strong ocean swells and we had to be careful
around the rocks.
Tip of Whistling Cay.
Although today was the best snorkeling by far, with the water depth providing a very different experience, my suspicions were sadly confirmed. Everywhere you look, the rocks, coral and sea floor are covered with pure white calcium. It was precisely the same in Trunk Bay, which is exactly the opposite of 10 years ago when I snorkeled there - there was none of this back then. Coral thrives between 75 and 85 degrees... any warmer and the coral (they're animals not plants) are ejected into the ocean which leaves behind a calcium shell. This is known as bleaching and has happened widespread in St. John in the last two years and worldwide over the last decade. To make matters worse in St. John, the weakened state of the coral overall has allowed a virus to thrive here - it attacks all species of coral, not just one, and nobody knows how to stop it.
*** rant starts ***
Coral health is an accurate temperature gauge. The temperature of the water around St. John averages above 85 degree now, which is enough to cause the bleaching. No one knows if the bleached areas are truly dead or if they can recover. An overall increase by 1 degree in ocean water temperature is huge and it's happening now. To those listening to Rush Limbaugh or similar, know that those idiots have certainly never seen what I have, or have any idea of what they're blabbering about - and they've probably never even been in the ocean, except maybe, to pollute it. The state of the coral alone proves beyond doubt that ocean temperatures are rising above and beyond the normal, expected variations in temperature. I've seen these changes firsthand between 10 years ago and today (so don't even get me started about polar ice conditions, I don't want to travel there).
*** rant ends ***
On a positive note, I tried using a wetsuit today for the first time and it was GREAT! I will rent one at the dive shop tomorrow because it lets you stay in the water much longer (and warm and comfortable). I never though of using one for snorkeling because I was always very close to shore, but today was closer to an open ocean experience, so it was perfect. I also figured it was for divers only, but I won't make that mistake again... I loved it!
I'm also going to pick up a few disposable underwater cameras. I'm not expecting really great results... but who knows, maybe I'll get lucky on a few shots and find some sea turtles! Anyway, here are some shots from the aboard The Pepper.
Leaving St. John and Maho Bay.
A close up of Whistling Cay. We were doing a lot of snorkeling
around the rocks at the point (on the leftmost part of the photo).
Whistling Cay again, with St. John in the background.
A different view of Whistling Cay (around the opposite side).
We were also around these rocks quite a bit...
Here's St. John again (from our point of view during snorkeling)
The sky was very pretty today.
Another closer shot of Whistling Cay.
Here's home (Maho Bay)... but look how different the water looks.
It just depends on the weather, time of day and where the sun is.
Tip of Whistling Cay.
Although today was the best snorkeling by far, with the water depth providing a very different experience, my suspicions were sadly confirmed. Everywhere you look, the rocks, coral and sea floor are covered with pure white calcium. It was precisely the same in Trunk Bay, which is exactly the opposite of 10 years ago when I snorkeled there - there was none of this back then. Coral thrives between 75 and 85 degrees... any warmer and the coral (they're animals not plants) are ejected into the ocean which leaves behind a calcium shell. This is known as bleaching and has happened widespread in St. John in the last two years and worldwide over the last decade. To make matters worse in St. John, the weakened state of the coral overall has allowed a virus to thrive here - it attacks all species of coral, not just one, and nobody knows how to stop it.
*** rant starts ***
Coral health is an accurate temperature gauge. The temperature of the water around St. John averages above 85 degree now, which is enough to cause the bleaching. No one knows if the bleached areas are truly dead or if they can recover. An overall increase by 1 degree in ocean water temperature is huge and it's happening now. To those listening to Rush Limbaugh or similar, know that those idiots have certainly never seen what I have, or have any idea of what they're blabbering about - and they've probably never even been in the ocean, except maybe, to pollute it. The state of the coral alone proves beyond doubt that ocean temperatures are rising above and beyond the normal, expected variations in temperature. I've seen these changes firsthand between 10 years ago and today (so don't even get me started about polar ice conditions, I don't want to travel there).
*** rant ends ***
On a positive note, I tried using a wetsuit today for the first time and it was GREAT! I will rent one at the dive shop tomorrow because it lets you stay in the water much longer (and warm and comfortable). I never though of using one for snorkeling because I was always very close to shore, but today was closer to an open ocean experience, so it was perfect. I also figured it was for divers only, but I won't make that mistake again... I loved it!
I'm also going to pick up a few disposable underwater cameras. I'm not expecting really great results... but who knows, maybe I'll get lucky on a few shots and find some sea turtles! Anyway, here are some shots from the aboard The Pepper.
Leaving St. John and Maho Bay.
A close up of Whistling Cay. We were doing a lot of snorkeling
around the rocks at the point (on the leftmost part of the photo).
Whistling Cay again, with St. John in the background.
A different view of Whistling Cay (around the opposite side).
We were also around these rocks quite a bit...
Here's St. John again (from our point of view during snorkeling)
The sky was very pretty today.
Another closer shot of Whistling Cay.
Here's home (Maho Bay)... but look how different the water looks.
It just depends on the weather, time of day and where the sun is.