Under the Sea

The whole impetus for us selecting the Keys as our big vacation this year is Sam threw out the idea of going somewhere that we could snorkel... This was based on his immediate love of snorkeling when we did it in Mexico while on our cruise for Nana's birthday.

A quick search of all the great places to snorkel in the US (COVID, ya know..)  all led us straight to the Florida Keys..

So we made sure we got in a day of snorkeling.  We stepped aboard Captain Sue's boat in Islamorada...   Our adventure began with us randomly stumbling upon a manatee swimming right by us while the boat was still docked (this was another thing the Hatcher boys had put on their list of things to see in the Keys)... Check that off the list. Woohoo!

Captain Sue took us to three different reefs, all loaded with beautiful fish and sea creatures...




I don't think I mentioned this terrifying glimpse into ocean life we all witnessed off the dock of our Airbnb...  it involved a barracuda...  caught by Richie... admired by all...  hook carefully withdrawn from the little devil's mouth (because... teeth, you know)... and then, as Richie would do with any other fish, he threw it back into the ocean..  And then SCLACK!

The barracuda was viciously attacked by another barracuda of the same size...   it literally snatched it up and for 10-15 seconds straight shook it around, and bit a huge chunk off its back...   then came back for more.... shook him around some more.. and finally let him go..  The poor guy just swam to the bottom of the water...  and sat there...

We all stood with our eyes wide open in total shock of what just happened...

Anyway, it made for an interesting awareness as we were swimming around the reefs with barracuda 4-5 times the size of the little devils off our dock...  just watching us.....  You can literally see their eyes following you..

It was a bit intense for this mama. Just sayin'


Sam is definitely our marine life lover...  he could immerse himself in it all day long and still not get enough.

It was a fabulous day, full of great adventures... and nobody was attacked by a barracuda, which made me extra happy!

 "There's nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean."

~ Dave Barry

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