Lesson No 2
‘Things to Look Out For’
Humans
By far the most dangerous creature in the ocean is a
mammal varying in length from 1.5 to 2.0 metres commonly
called a human. The male of the species is particularly
fearsome when steering a roaring speedboat or a shrieking,
"Hang Yao", through a swimmer infested sea.
You'll hear the approaching boat long before even a
wide-awake boatman can see you. Get your arms in the
air, wave and make sure he's seen you before you return
to your placid snorkelling.
Earaches
This very common affliction is caused by tiny fungal
micro organisms that settle on the ear canal or its
little hairs and cause a very painful infection. It
can be treated easily with 'Garasone' eardrops but it
takes a few days and during that time its very important
that you keep your ears dry.
Every time you return from a swim, shower and then apply
five or six drops of an ear drying solution. The best
one is called 'Swim Ear' produced by E. Fougeera &
Co. of Atlanta Inc. in New York. It's easily available
in the USA but if you can't get it in Thailand, the
best substitute is to mix three parts 70 % pharmaceutical
alcohol with one part of vinegar and use as a substitute.
Currents
Simple principle: ALWAYS swim out against the current.
That way, if the current is too strong or you get a
cramp, you can easily float back to your starting point.
If you swim out easily, following the current, you don't
know what you'll be fighting against on the way back.
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Look,
point and enjoy, but please don’t touc!
Sea
Urchins
These resemble pincushions with long black knitting needles
or quills sticking out of them. These quills are particularly
nasty as the tip is barbed, making withdrawal without
breakages virtually impossible. Although they are not
poisonous they can be quite painful. Close inspection
of these spiny denizens can come with a risk, as they
are prone to react with light movements (shadows, sunlight
etc) and align their quills to face the menace of possible
intruders. When swimming in shallow water avoid using
breaststroke as this style of swimming increases the likelihood
of being impaled in your knees or elbows.
Scorpionfish & Stonefish
This inconspicuous fishy family lie motionless in a number
of backgrounds in anticipation of the odd unsuspecting
snack to pass by. The reason being that they are capable
of engulfing fish right up to their own body size, in
what could only be described as a blur! They have to be,
and of course are, masters of disguise (otherwise they'd
starve) and able to blend in with a variety of backgrounds.
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Some
people consider this family to be ugly and dangerous,
well ugly they're not, but as for dangerous, well the
spines on their dorsal fins contain enough venom to be
fatal to even us humans and they are sharp enough to pass
through the sturdiest of shoes, so snorkellers fins wouldn't
stand a chance!
There's a good lesson to be learnt here, firstly don't
ever stand on corals not just because it will kill them
but they just might be a camouflaged member of the scorpionfish
family.
Sharks
Shark attack myths aside, it's actually a fact that far
more people die each year from bee stings. In tropical
waters sharks such as Leopard, Frog, Nurse, Black and
White-tip and Grey reef sharks, don't consider human flesh
to be on their menu and are much more accustomed and happier
to hunt down tastier creatures such as squid and other
small benethic residents which aside from the fact are
easier to catch, can be eaten whole. Humans are way too
big and intimidating for them.
Black-tip reef sharks, especially the braver adolescents,
are very curious and will circle around any unfamiliar
entity in their domain for several minutes before moving
on to something more interesting: food!. Thankfully, bubble-less
skin divers are able to make use of these elongated encounters
by capturing such behaviour on film, or even more rewarding
video.
However although they are uninterested in humans as food
sharks can be dangerous when they feel threatened, so
don't ever try to make contact or trap them in such a
place that the only way out is through you! Sharks are
one of the most impressive sights in the ocean, and even
though they have the grace of a ballet dancer they are
more than capable of transforming into a powerful turbojet
if provoked. So when snorkelling with sharks just simply
enjoy the view.
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