The Kayak Adventure: Part II

To read part one, click here.

“Stop!” Scott yelled fiercely. We all readily complied. “Pull your paddles in, and don’t touch the water.”

“What is it?” Molly asked.

“Whales,” he replied simply.

As we all watched in amazement, a pod of humpback whales surrounded our grouping of kayaks. At one point, I could have reached out and touched one had I wanted to. We counted at least seven whales in total. They swam around us with an air of authority, and it was amazing to see the creatures so close. Everyone was silent until we could no longer make out the sprays of water from their blowholes in the distance.

Scott instructed us all to continue paddling. He remained behind, took more photos with his underwater camera, and determined the tiger shark was gone. The whales had scared him away, most likely. Whether they realized it or not, the whales had saved us from what could have been a devastatingly fatal tragedy.

Most people would immediately head for land after experiencing something as terrifying as a potential shark attack. Not us. We paddled for another half hour, and arrived at a coral reef. Scott instructed us all to put on our snorkeling gear and hop into the water. We were going swimming.

If Chris hadn’t gleefully donned his gear and jumped into the ocean, I probably would have remained in the kayak. But, I didn’t want to explain to my parents what had happened if he was eaten or carried away by a whale, so I followed. And, I’m glad I did.

We were in the water for about five minutes when Chris tapped me on the shoulder. He pointed at something, and I followed the path of his outstretched arm with my eyes. It took me a moment to understand what he saw, but then, I saw them too. Swimming up from the depths of the coral reef were three very large sea turtles.

The turtles didn’t simply watch us from a distance. They joined us. Before I knew it, people were touching them, following them, and swimming with them. The turtles didn’t seem to mind. One of them actually swam up and looked me right in the eyes. If I hadn’t been wearing a snorkel, I probably would have screamed with surprise. But there wasn’t anything scary or strange about this situation. The turtles were as interested in us as we were in them. It was fascinating.

Chris and I agreed afterwards that our kayak adventure was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We both experienced the power of nature’s creatures. I never thought I would see and touch a turtle that was almost the same size as me, and I definitely never thought a pod of whales would save me from a tiger shark. The ocean is a magical place, and one never knows what to expect when they step off of land and surrender to its power.