Quote Originally Posted by Daddy-h2O View Post
At the end of the last check out dive, I want to call them all over to look at a small turtle tucked into the palm of my hand and as the last one looks at it, I am going to start crushing it. After about 15-20 sec. I will show them that it is rubber. But my instructor says I have to be real careful who I pull this one on.
Oh dear. And now you've got Santelmo wanting to pull this stunt too! You do know you're both likely to get slapped by a slate (or something) by an aghast onlooker


Speaking of faking it, in Ticao Bowl, Masbate while diving for mantas, we noticed that this outrigger boat seemed to be shadowing us. The fisherman looked like he was just going about his usual business. Most of the time, he lay on his boat, probably waiting for a tug on his lines or movement in his net.

As we chatted in between dives, one of the crew noticed activity, just beneath the water's surface, at a short distance. The local DM excitely said that it could be a manta.

The fisherman and his banca suddenly leapt to life, quickly motoring off to that area. We actually saw him threw a harpoon into the water. We screamed. One of the divers, shouting obscenities throughout, pulled out a gun and fired shots in the air (which was scary in itself; he turned out to be a local law enforcer). We were relieved to see the fisherman pull the harpoon out of the water with nothing stuck at the end.

That this fisherman (from another town, the local DM was sure) trailed us knowing that we were here for the mantas (that divers unwittingly bring danger to what we love) was a sobering realization!