Box Jellyfish

[seasnake]

I guess real men would just take the jelly stings and suck it up! I'll be the guy in the full suit . . . possibly with pink flowers ...

[PinayDiver]

i hate jellyfish... yuck... they look pretty underwater but still..... eeewww! hahaha better bring a lot of vinegar....

So imagine us, four females just surfaced from Monad Shoal in the Visayas, waiting by the side of the outrigger boat for our turn to climb up the ladder. Every now and then, we'd plant our masked faces back into the water to locate just where these two (two pics of each) were in reference to us.

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We were of course convinced that they kept getting nearer. There were screams. Fins were getting tossed back into the boat. There was a mad scramble up. The local dive master, name's Martin, was left holding my friend Benita's camera, and so took these souvenir pics. Good thing too, because now I can appreciate their lovely form at leisure

[santelmo]

hahahahaha yeeeeeeee!

nice shots though

[SoCalDiveGirl]

The local dive master, name's Martin, was left holding my friend Benita's camera, and so took these souvenir pics. Good thing too, because now I can appreciate their lovely form at leisure

Nice pics! Hehe, I understand the haste in getting back on the boat though!!!

[PinayDiver]

Nice pics! Hehe, I understand the haste in getting back on the boat though!!!

Meanwhile...back at the office, non-divers ribbed me on the idea that on that very trip, we "bravely" sought out toothy thresher sharks but went jelly on the knees over what they perceived as a much smaller creature (who, really, was at the mercy of where the currents took it). But then again, someone who I thought was my friend had to point out (a parallel contradiction), they already know that I don't mind, say, rapelling over the side of a ship (an adventure race dare) but I have to be escorted across Manila's streets haha.

[PinayDiver]

...and the better to appreciate my officemates' puzzlement over why shortly after encountering these at Monad Shoal

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we'd be all girly-girl over jellyfishes

Pics still taken by local DM Martin with buddy Benita's camera (posted with their blessing, naturally)

[santelmo]

@ PinayDiver: sino scuba instructor mo? mine's Gigi Santos and Dick Reyes

[PinayDiver]

@ PinayDiver: sino scuba instructor mo? mine's Gigi Santos and Dick Reyes

Uy, I met Gigi (she who is DM to the President of the Philippines ) once, years back in Tubbataha on the Island Explorer (before it sank!). She's a good friend of my group's most regular DM, Jay Ortiz. My NAUI open water instructor is Joel Sayo while my PADI advanced open water instructor is Ian Paredes. Both detailed, exact, and exacting in different ways -- one like that teacher we all used to have who marches around the room, "whapak"-ing his palm with a ruler; the other, practicing more of a soft-spoken motivational style. They were exactly how I needed them to be at the time. I'll always be grateful to both

[seasnake]

I remember doing deco on one dive in a bit of current ... my buddy and I look up to see this cloud of Lions Mane jellyfish drifting straight at us in the current ... we were trying to stay by the line so we were dodging the jellyfish as they went by like some kind of video game ...

[santelmo]

I remember doing deco on one dive in a bit of current ... my buddy and I look up to see this cloud of Lions Mane jellyfish drifting straight at us in the current ... we were trying to stay by the line so we were dodging the jellyfish as they went by like some kind of video game ...

a cloud? you mean there were LOTS???? just imagine hugging a large one... mmmm..so soft... so... so....???