~~~Seabase Diving~~~

While in Utah we visited Bonneville Seabase. It is located in the Bonneville Saltflats and has naturally occurring saltwater springs. The temperature of the water was so cold, but with a 7mm wetsuit a 3mm hooded vest and major bravery it wasn't too uncomfortable. I have only dived in 75-82 degree Caribbean water so the cold was a shock to me. Scott did his training dives in water that cold so he wasn't as surprised as I was.
The clarity leaves something to be desired but, we knew that before we went so we still had fun anyways. I do not consider myself to be prissy or extremely girly but I HATE getting my hands dirty. I freaked out my first time down. Because there was low visibility I really had to rely on my training and have courage that I would be O.K. I felt like I was sinking into a green mossy abyss with no way to know what was swimming around me. (NOT COMFORTING!!!) After Ron talked us into swimming through a tunnel and just getting comfortable with our surroundings we (I) started doing o.k. We both started getting cold and took a surface interval for an hour. (Longer than was needed but we were still quite chilled.) Our second dive was more comfortable and more relaxed. As we slowly explored the bottom I came across something that I was hoping I would find but didn't think I would. I saw two triangle shapes protruding off the bottom and thought to myself 'Those look like shark dorsal fins.' I got closer and discovered that they were indeed shark fins. They belonged to one of the two nurse sharks that are permanent residents there. I gave Scott the sign for SHARK and he came closer to check it out too. We were able to pet it and to our amazement it felt rough like sandpaper. We thought she would feel soft and rubbery like dolphins and whales do. The shark had her nose tucked into a crevice and we discovered that her crevice was where the warm water comes out from one of the springs. She was trying to stay warm too. We were surprised at how big it was.

I will never forget this dive- for many reasons.

These Angel fish would eat romaine lettuce right out of our hands.
When they would come out of nowhere, it was kind of alarming.

I almost put my hand right down on the nurse shark.
Talk about having to be aware of your surrounding.

Things I learned about myself as a diver:

• Caribbean diving is so easy
• I love warm water diving
• I need to take an underwater navigation course and get better at using a compass
• I do not like getting my hands dirty with algae
• Scott is such a good dive buddy and we really complement each other as divers
• I will never take unlimited visibility for granted--- EVER!!
• When we retire, I would love to have an income that would allow us to travel the world over to go diving.