The lady was pointing her phone down toward the water just
a little off the shore. We were near a rocky outcrop on Waikaloa Beach on the
Big Island in Hawaii. The breeze was active and excited and I couldn’t hear
what the lady with the camera was trying to tell me. I edged a little closer.
“See turtles?” she shouted.
“No, I haven’t” I shouted back. “But I’ll let you know if
I do!” I offered through the wind.
Huffygirl suddenly sidled up beside me and excitedly pointed
at the water. “See turtle!!”
I tried to tell her she can’t make me see a turtle but she put both hands on my head and pointed
my face at an oblong shadow with flippers and a neck and head just under the
water’s surface and then I realized how wrong I'd been – Huffygirl really could make me see a turtle…
A real sea turtle! I was going to tell the lady with the
camera but Huffygirl held me back and pointed out that the lady’s camera was
pointing right at it. I wonder why the lady had asked me in the first place
when she’d already seen it?! Huffygirl and I alternated between watching from
the sand of the beach and the rocky outcropping and were fascinated by the big
turtle’s movements. It was about 2 feet wide and a more than that in length and
was gently rocking with the waves. Every once in a while he brought his head
above water and looked around to see if he was getting appropriate attention.
He was.
The turtle’s movements seemed to be dictated by the waves
as he bobbed and floated with the water’s motions but then he would effortlessly
swim/fly 5 or 10 feet away in a few seconds. The more we watched, the more we
saw gracefulness in its movements and beauty in its motion. I quietly mentioned
to Huffygirl that this was how I felt when I was on the dance floor and she got
an odd look on her face that at first seemed like disbelief but she said was a
look of total agreement when I questioned her later. Total agreement she said,
over and over. Even threw in some laughs of agreement as well.
I remembered we had our underwater camera with us so I
grabbed it and waded into the water about 10 feet from the shore. Huffygirl
asked if I wanted my bathing cap which I’d forgotten in my haste and I told her
I wore no such thing! I think the folks watching believed me on account of my
bad boy swagger. The sea turtle had taken a little break so I just stood in the
water looking around for a bit while Huffygirl and the lady with the phone did
the same. After a few minutes, he appeared again, about 10 feet from me and I
stuck the camera under water. He did a series of underwater ballet tricks that
were amazing and I knew this video would be a YouTube sensation! When I pulled
the camera up I found the video had not been turned on. Arrrg!
I finally got the video going and tried to keep it
pointing toward the sea turtle. He started swimming toward me and then toward
the lady with the phone who let out a squeal as she took a step back. This
seemed to get the attention of the local authorities. The turtle was only a
foot away from the camera and I was amazed to be this close to a real sea
turtle when a booming voice said, “20 feet from the turtles!” I looked up and 2
men in powder blue t-shirts that said Waikaloa Beach Club were standing on the
shore looking very stern and one of them repeated, “You need to stay 20 feet
from the sea turtles!” I stared them both down as I moved slowly away
from the lumbering turtle. My staring worked and the men in powder blue turned
and went on their way. It was a close call but it was clear the ‘Man’ knew they
were in over their heads and decided it best to say their piece and move on
rather than risk a confrontation with a sea turtle viewing bad boy.
I asked Huffygirl if she had seen the whole thing and she
said yes she had and that she was very proud of me for standing up to the
waiters from the beach club by moving away from the turtle the way I did. Once
we were back at our lounge chairs she told me she loved being married to a bad
boy and asked if I wanted to go back and play in the water. I said yes and she
handed me my bathing cap. It was a wonderful day!
