Ever watch Sharknado? The popular B-rate horror movies of the Attacking Sharks Gone Wild kind?

Ever wonder what you might see if you go snorkelling in the waters in the Caribbean ?

Why not join us as we experience some Close Encounters of the Thrilling UnderWater Kind. Brought to you Live, Close and Personal (and bonus, no commercials!).

This is NOT Sharknado, but rather SharkBlogO!!

****

"I can't believe it took us THREE YEARS to finally stop at Ronde Island" we exclaimed as we sailed Banyan into the waters of this quaint, quiet and calm anchorage.

"Did you know that it's For Sale?" I exclaimed. "Only 100 million U.S. dollars for this deserted rugged island!"

Located approx 10 nmiles south of Tyrell Bay (Carriacou) or about 20 nmiles North of St George's (Grenada), Isle de Ronde just never seemed to fit into the right time, right weather, right conditions or the right schedules for us.

However, we just happened to be on a "This is THE Perfect time" type of trip. The weather was perfect. The conditions were perfect. The schedules were perfect. And it was TIME.

Picturesque! "Three years!"
Quiet and Calm!! "Three years!"
Not far to travel to !!! "Three years!"

Once the anchor set, we looked down at the crystal clear waters and knew immediately that snorkelling was next on our list. NOW!



We swam out to the point and were enthralled by the views,



large boulders dotted with all sorts of growing oral,



pretty amazing canyon type of hallways to navigate through,



I heard something and came up to see, only to hear :

"SHARK !!!" yelled Sue. "SHARK !!!"



The heart starts pounding and as I went below towards her, afraid of what I might find, I saw hime. A grey form gliding over the bottom, as he emerged out from behind a boulder.

A wave of relief swept over me as my brain engaged and confirmed that it was only a Nurse Shark.



I just couldn't swim fast enough to get a face on view and photo.



Did I really want to come face to face with a shark ?



Nurse Sharks are thought to be quite harmless. Google describes them as :

" nocturnal animals... spending the day in large inactive groups of up to 40"

THANK GOD WE ONLY SAW ONE!

"Their diet consists primarily of crustaceans, molluscs, tunicates, sea snakes, and other fish, particularly stingrays."

THANK GOD IT DON'T LIKE HUMAN!

Did you know that :

"The nurse shark's thousands of tiny, sharp teeth are arranged in rows and rotate into position as necessary to replace a broken or lost tooth"

HOW COOL IS THAT?

"because of its sluggish behaviour it is an easy target for local fisheries. Its skin is exceptionally tough and is prized for leather; its flesh is consumed fresh and salted and its liver is utilised for oil"

THAT'S TOO BAD!

Wow, back up to get a breather, not to mention squeal with delight and touched with adrenaline,



"OMG, just breathe, and how WOW was that?"

Back down again.



The underwater landscape simply stunning. From nothing much to see that is somehow still enthralling and mesmerizing in its own peaceful way,



to fans and corals and all sorts of colours of life, a world that is unknown to many of us.









How about this guy,



hiding under the rock?

Can you spot him? His large bulbous eyeballs watching you?

A Caribbean Reef Octopus. And if there's more than one, it's Octopuses.

Google says :

"they are typically solitary and are able to quickly change color using specialized cells in their skin known as chromatophores"

And this moray eel was quick to slither out and then back in again, sliding through spaces and places that even our eyes couldn't find or follow.



The Flying Gurnard was asleep,



and not showing his wings or his colours today.

But not to worry, we saw plenty more.











Now if you lived under the sea, what kind of fish would you be?

Would you be a Moray Eel? Or a Flying Gurnard? Or an Octopus? The Colourful Fish? Or perhaps you'd be the Shark?