Snorkeling off the bone-white beach on Changuu (Prison Island), we came across a remarkable sight. Two large, black shadows appeared to be moving with the tide, just offshore on the north (leeward) side of the island; Seaweed? Coral? Rocks?
It was impossible to see without getting underwater with goggles or a snorkel. When we finally got close we realized with surprise that the black shadow was actually a massive, dense school of fish, thrashing around in circles just beneath the waves.
I’ve never seen so many fish together in real life; they weren’t that big, a few inches perhaps, but once we swam into the cloud and were surrounded by great masses of swirling fish, making great circles of flashing grey around us, it was mesmerizing.
The fish were a little skittish – they would part into two great clouds as we swam through them, closing the gap around us as we floated on the surface. Large trumpet fish seemed to be tailing them, but otherwise there were no larger fish around – a safe place to feed perhaps. The boatman said they were ‘daga’ in Swahili, but we have no idea what the English name is and we later found out they were sardines!
Here are some other underwater shots from when we went snorkeling. (Thanks to Sunshine & Brian for the waterproof case for my camera!)
Hey Tiff! So glad you guys are able to make use of the underwater camera case! The pictures and video are lovely!! But remember to set it aside as well, and just enjoy taking in the scenery without trying to capture everything (my problem!).
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