A huge supply ship docked at the government pier and we watched as it lined up so that the crane on it could unload onto the concrete dock. We guessed that it brought all the supplies that the island imports.
We left Green Turtle Cay this morning with the plan to find the place to snorkel on the reefs. We edged close to shore to anchor just off No Name Key because it was rough where there was a break into the Atlantic. Setting out in the dinghy, it was exciting to see the tall waves from that close to the water and Tom did a good job of driving without us being capsized. We decided to cut behind the first row of reefs to avoid going farther out to our original destination. However, we found a place to drop our little anchor into the sand and took the plunge. We were just inside the reef at low tide and the breakers were surging over the reef but providing some calm on our side.
Though totally unmarked, this was a wonderful and safe snorkeling location. We saw varied coral, large lime green and golden brain coral, orangy brown steghorn coral, bright purple sea fans and some fluffy coral that looked like brown tiny geranium leaves. Occasionally you would see some of the same coral that was shades of blue green. We saw tubular coral that looked like Texas cactus and one big glossy, black spiny sea urchin. There were small brightly colored fish – I wish I knew the names. There were none of the parrot fish or queen trigger fish like we saw in Key Largo, but some very pretty ones anyway. There were some that had teal heads with black stripes and chartreuse tails, little orange fish with purple backs, and sergeant majors. It was a really fun experience and I was relieved to not be eaten by the shark we had seen two days ago.
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