Rainy days during the virus lockdown provided many opportunities for re-organising files and looking through photos of past travels.
One of our favourite places in the Maldives is the island of Biyadhoo, an old-fashioned no-frills resort in the South Male Atoll. I love snorkelling through the coral reefs around Biyadhoo, but also always book a few 'snorkelling expeditions' to other reefs in the area.
On this occasion I had heard reports about the (unseasonal) appearance of manta rays at an open water spot not too far away and I signed up immediately for a trip there. In the event, we - I seem to remember that there were 5 or 6 of us altogether - spent quite a bit of time pottering about without seeing any evidence of mantas and we were resigned to getting the booby prize of a bit of snorkelling at one of the other resort islands. However, I had not given up hope altogether (and not taken any of my gear off) when the lookout on the boat suddenly shouted that he thought that he had spotted mantas. I was, therefore, the first one in the water - clutching my little waterproof camera which I had strapped to my wrist.
What I saw was basically the scene shown above: a huge mouth bearing down on me. Somehow I managed to snap a couple of photos quickly, but my overwhelming urge was to brace for the impact. I need not have worried - the gentle giant simply dived down a bit and passed just underneath me. It was a magical experience.
Once my heartbeat had slowed a little, I was able to take in my surroundings more fully. I realised that there were actually three manta rays at this spot, performing elegant dances around each other (and me) in the water. I took loads of photos, but very few turned out well enough to reproduce here. I believe the problem, apart from yours truly and the camera being a fairly basic one, was that there was so much plankton around (which, of course, was what had attracted the mantas in the first place) that the camera focussed on the plankton rather than the animals. Anyway, below are a few additional photos that are reasonably in focus.
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