Black Tip Reef Sharks in the Roots

After an early morning lull the rain clouds returned and we were battered by strong winds and rain until the afternoon. The dark light made photography in the mangroves impossible and we were left at camp with the tortoise and the rail. (more on these characters later)

In the afternoon’s high incoming tide we ventured back into the mangroves. A party of black tip sharks pre-occupied Tom and I as we tried to capture images of them swimming through the roots, while Dan filmed the enchanting network of channels and overhanging branches. When the current was flowing fast and furious I hugged the roots of one tree and toyed with images of the fish flying around the corner of the channel into the main stream. Once the current subsided we finned down the main channel into an area with a cavity along the floor that forms a pool of water at low tide where fish get trapped. Even on the tail end of a high tide the pool was teaming with numerous fish species in great numbers, turtles swimming in all directions, rays cruising past and one extremely large brindle bass lurked in the shadows of a large coral outcrop.

I think our hut could have been pelted by hail and coconut crabs could have been dancing with the egrets on our roof all night and I would have slept through it all.