A Fish Symphony

The dive was at a pinnacle, so no chance to drift dive, and warnings that the current can really scream at this location. I sat in my wetsuit and gear hesitantly. Did I really want to go on this dive? The current was one of my biggest fears on this trip and so far it hadn't been a problem, but the way the divemasters were talking I just wasn't sure I was up for the dive. At the last minute I decided Yes - I'm going to go for it. Put on my fins and jumped in. As it turns out, the current was very mild at that time. We descended about 10 meters down the mooring line, but then didn't need it and swam freely down the side of the pinnacle, reaching a depth of 30 meters and then working our way up and around the mount. It was a beautiful dive, so many schools of different fish, some swimming peacefully, some being pushed into tighter groups by a predator darting back and forth. Tiny glass fish, snappers, goat fish, blue and orange damsels, and higher up a few large baracuda keeping watch on it all. Then our dive master signaled to get our attention. Something unusual was happening. He pointed his arm for us to look left. An enormous school of snappers was swimming up towards us. He pointed his arm for us to look right. Another school of fish converging on our location. At that moment all the world we could see was filled with fish and as he brought his arms up in the sweeping movements of a conductor a third or fourth school joined in and all came together, streaming past us in a symphony of colors and flashes of light. We hung suspended in the magic of that moment, completely filled with awe as we watched the living keleidescope move around us. As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. The fish had finished their dance and gone back to their usual business, while the three of us floated there revelling in what we had experienced. Back on the boat, our dive master was exstatic saying that even for him has a guide that was something completely unique we had experienced. It was the most memorable moment of all our dives.