mantas!

today we had 2 mantas, male and a female, come visit us at the underwater cleaning station. after about 45 minutes of close to no action these two float in one after another right over our heads. seriously. they may as well have patted me on the head as they swam over me. absolutely incredible!

we took a dip in the most jewel-like patch of ocean you have ever seen on the way to our second dive site. backflips off the bow of the boat, swimming in skivvies... afterwards, a boat ride through a narrow mangrove lined waterway that looked straight out of apocalypse now... it should be illegal to have this much fun.

all that said, i have to say what i've seen of the reefs here has been extremely disappointing. LOTS of dead coral - could be that the reefs i've seen have been close to the main port. so i'll reserve judgement until after tomorrow when we go to the southern part of the island to check things out there.

evenso, what a fantastic day... despite my underwater camera housing flooding during the descent of the second dive. my fault. oops. hopefully insurance will cover my momentary lapse in fastidiousness.

photos and videos are up. enjoy!

http://galleries.sensitiveartist.com/palauyap0809