Swimming with Giants

On my first deployment in 2007, I visited the islands of Palau and swam in Jellyfish Lake. Called the "Fifth Lake" it is a freshwater lake on the island of Eil Malk where millions of golden jellyfish slowly migrate around the lake to follow the sunlight. After hiking up a muddied, foliage shaded path to the lake, you simply jump in and start swimming towards the sunspots. Before long you can see the languid movements of jellyfish pulsing themselves through the water, moving in tangents to each other across beams of sunlight. Keep swimming, and you are literally surrounded by the jellyfish, to the point where you experience the sensation of swimming through a solid mass of jellyfish. They gently bump up against you, the cool film of their bodies, at first making you recoil, but then just making you laugh. The largest ones can fit in the palm of your hand, and all around you, in every direction they swim. Luckily, these creatures don't sting you, so you can completely revel in this surreal experience. 

I didn't think I would ever experience something so out of mind, until Sus and I swam with giant manta rays off of Kona on the Big Island. 

At dusk, Sus and I made our way to Honokohau harbor where we met with our guides, Super Dave and Craig with Sea Hawaii Rafting. Changing into fashionable wetsuits, the 13 snorkelers and 2 guides climbed into a giant RHIB and quickly made our way across the bay to Manta Ray Heaven. 

Riding swiftly across the open bay, we witnessed a water level view of the sun setting on the horizon. Every opportunity she gets, Hawaii reminds you of her beauty. Once we joined the half dozen other tour boats for divers and snorkelers, we were given a brief safety rundown. The manta rays are gentle giants, and will get close but generally never touch a diver or snorkeler. The most important rule was to not touch the rays, as this will spook them and cause the protective slime on their body to wear away, making them susceptible to disease or infection. 

The manta rays are attracted to this area for a specific reason: food. A few years ago, it was ingeniously thought of to shine bright flashlights under water, attracting masses of plankton who mistook it for sunlight. The giant manta rays, although they look like they can swallow you whole, feed entirely off of plankton. Needing to consume 10-15% of their body weight a day, and weighing more than a ton, that's a A LOT of plankton. 

We donned our snorkel gear and jumped into the dark water. Holding onto a surfboard laced across with PVC piping, with holes cut throughout to hold the flashlights, the excitement was palpable. 

I am on the left, with Sus holding on next to me.

Within one minute of being in the water, a large male manta ray named Grayer welcomed us. Out of the dark, a gaping mouth, flanked by gently flapping fins 12 feet long silently appeared. Brushing within inches of our surfboard, Grayer completed endless somersaults, scooping up plankton into his mouth. It was so unbelievable, so completely out of control, I just started laughing underwater, snorting saltwater up my nose. 

Underwater acrobatics.

Divers at the "Campfire."

For the next 90 minutes, we were towed by Super Dave on the surfboard around the "Campfire," the area where the divers sit 40 feet below the surface around lights that look like campfires. Swimming in and out of the divers air bubbles, with the four manta rays swimming loops all around us, I could have watched them all night. The largest manta ray had a wingspan of 14 feet. With some incredible sensory skill, they would come within inches of our outstretched bodies but not touch us...except once. A smaller ray was in its cycle of somersaults, when for whatever reason, he lost spatial reasoning and his fin smacked right onto my arm! Yes! I wanted to touch one, but restrained myself to keep them safe, but this one reached out and touched me! I loved it! 

Climbing back into the RHIB to hot chocolate and biscotti, wrapped up in robes, I just kept imagining myself still swimming with the dancing manta rays. They were so large and looming, yet so elegant and fine in their movements. I thought I would be caught off guard by their prehistoric appearance, but really, I just thought they were beautiful.