The Best Day in a Decade!

This is sort of a response to another blog written about an event that I was involved in.  Actually, it's mostly about me.  I find that very flattering, considering it was written by a man that I have a ton of respect for.  If you want to read that blog then click on the word "blog."

Anyway, this is my take on the best day in a decade.  I woke up absurdly early and met my friend William and his dad (Mr. Thompson) at their house to go offshore fishing.  Now, I enjoy fishing and harvesting food from nature.  I think it's healthy for man do these kinds of things. Mr. Thompson is a pro when it comes to offshore fishing so we had that cooler full of kingfish and cobia by like 10:30 that morning.  I had brought my GoPro hoping to film some of this fish underwater and I did do some of that but that beautiful day had something more in store for me:

Leatherback sea turtles!  Yes, I had seen one once before in the spring and it was majestic.  I thought for sure that was my once in a life time encounter with a leatherback and I would never see another one again.  that was not the case for this day.  We saw at least five and I got footage of at least two of them.  William helped with the Gopro and I had the most incredible experience with a leatherback that was beyond anything I would have ever even imagined!  We sighted a giant leatherback resting on the surface.  Mr. Thompson idled toward it and before it got spooked I dove off the bow with William right behind me.  I swam toward it and down and once I got under it I allowed myself to slowly float up.  The giant preferred to avoid us so it dove and we passed each other in slow motion.  Had either of us reached out our "arms" we could have slapped hands but of course they have a powerful flipper and it's illegal to touch them.  I had a difficult time wrapping my head around what had just happened and the shear awesomeness that this turtle embodied.  These are the facts:  Leatherbacks are the largest turtle in existence today, they are critically endangered, and they're known to travel thousands of miles across open ocean.  This turtle could have been twice my age easily and had certainly traveled more than I have.

From thinking I would never see another leatherback again to seeing five in a day and swimming with a few of them was a huge delight for me.  I was able to experience a magnificent creature in person in its environment in a very natural way was the icing on the cake.  I guess the cherry on top was seeing a ton of other insane creatures in the ocean and being able to take some fish home.  It would be wrong if I didn't give Mr. Thompson and William a huge thanks for taking me out and really making this my best day in a decade.