Drift Dreams

Drawaqa, Yasawa Group, Fiji.  This past July I had the pleasure of staying nearly alone on Drawaqa, a small island of the Yasawa Group, Fiji.  Most of my time there was spent diving and snorkeling, but I took a few hours to roam along vacant tropical beaches. I've long been a fan of drift seeds, but what I found during this beach outing was a treasure trove.   These seeds, which grow in tropical forests throughout the Pacific, drift on ocean currents and wash up on beaches from one side of the ocean to the other. The photo above is a collection of seeds taken during one beach walk.  The majority of seeds are Entada gigas - also known as mermaid purse.

Shark Sucker

Beqa Lagoon, Fiji.  This past July I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling to Fiji and diving with the shark feeders of Beqa Lagoon.  To the people of Beqa, sharks are sacred spirits with whom they share a special relationship.  Divers visiting Fiji may accompany the islanders on a shark feeding for an up close and personal look at bull, silvertip, tawny nurse, blacktip reef, whitetip reef and tiger sharks.

The above picture is one of my favorite from the experience.  This is one of the Fijian divers ascending to the surface following the shark feeding.  The fish swarming around him are primarily remoras and rainbow runners, attracted to the remaining food in his feed bucket.   Ocean conditions were extremely excellent this day, offering top to bottom visibility at 100ft of water.  This is the kind of scene I can lurk in forever.  I never want to leave the blue on warm, clear days like this.