Thanks, Barbara K, for the info. I sure hope to see a croc (from a distance) and all the other neat creatures of Belize.

Great photo of the sea turtle!! If I happen to see one while in Belize, I will feel truly blessed.

http://www.planeta.com/planeta/98/0898crocs.html is very informative...our Ambergris Caye saltwater crocs are American Crocodiles.

The Morelets are found inland in freshwater environs.

I've had a couple of experiences like that with turtles off SP. The last time, the turtle came and swam with me for more than 5 minutes. It appeared to be bigger than the one shown and kept stretching its head over towards mine. This, of course, caused me to move my head back. I wasn't quite sure whether he was after a kiss or was going to take a chomp out of my hose(s). I broke it off with the turtle to give some of the other divers a chance, but he took off without trying to nuzzle them too.

And looking at this picture, I'm trying to figure out just how the DM was keeping his fins on. Is that Marciano?

Interesting read, seashell.

Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words Marsali. Another thing that was amusing about that incident, were the two remora that kept swimming about and trying to get attached. The turtle's fin would often bat them off just as they were about to attach to its underside. I never did figure out, whether or not, the turtle was batting them about deliberately or it was just coincidence. I certainly kept half an eye on the remora too, because I've seen some of the smaller ones try to attach themselves to divers as well.

And it's pretty darned funny . . . when you see them trying to attach to another diver, not when they are trying to attach to oneself, that is.

Yes, that is Marciano! How he doesn't loose a fin I have no idea...

Someone needs to get him some Mares straps to go with those Volos.

Or maybe he doesn't need the straps, he needs booties to go onto his feet and into the footpockets.

Marciano's a great DM--tons of fun and about as much experience as anyone on AC. He found both turtles and nurse sharks for my kids to see and did a great job with us as a family. And he never uses his fin straps, just rams his ham-sized feet in the pockets and takes off. I think it's suction. He works, for those of you who don't know him, at Amigos. I already made sure he'd be available for us this year.

He also took a deaf/mute kid named Sherwood (he went by several names it seemed--different ones with different people) out with us several times. He's a local who can't go to school because they've no way to cope with his disabilities--he spends his days hanging around and helping out on the dock at the dive shop. Sherwood's a good diver (I think Marciano taught him) and the folks at Amigos have developed a pseudo-sign language they use to communicate with him. He fell in with my kids and they really got along so Marciano made sure he got on the boats with us. I hope he's there again when we get down in March. We almost wanted to bring him home with us. Man, he'd hate the snow here.

Sorry, pretty unrelated to the thread but just something I wanted to share about the genuinely kind and caring people that make up San Pedro.