Thirty feet beneath the lake surface, the scuba divers spotted the outline of a grotesque, purple creature, about nine inches high, perched on a limestone outcrop. It appeared rigid and alert, watching every move. Looking closer, you could see that the creature had extended white teeth that were tipped with red, apparently from blood. What was it? Was it dangerous? Would it attack? "As we got closer, my heart was thumping a hole in my chest," said Brad Haven, Jr., a diver on the adventure. At a distance of 10 feet, with clouds of air bubbles floating in vertical columns from the scuba divers, you could see that the creature sitting on the rock had extended claws from strange, short arms. Closer yet, it looked like a miniature, purple T-Rex. That's because it was, that is, a plastic dinosaur toy. After being retrieved, brought to the lake surface and displayed to the occupants of a nearby houseboat, it was claimed by the parents of a 3-year-old. The lad had tossed it overboard a few days earlier. By chance, it landed perfectly upright on the leading edge of the submerged crag, 30 feet down. For a moment, it seemed as if the divers had discovered a new life form. But then, it seems anything can happen when diving. Either by snorkel or scuba, this is nature's ultimate fortune hunt. Whenever I see some poor soul on land with a metal detector, wandering around and finding buried cans, I always think, "You want to find treasures? Get yourself under water." My first diving experiences came in rivers, snorkeling to watch trout. At a favorite pool, I was curious to see if there were a few big ones, maybe 12-to- 14-inchers. Instead, I was stunned to see 100 to 125 trout in single pools, including several 16 to 20 inches. That was the start. The best diving I've ever experienced was at the "Twelve Mile Labyrinth," a section of the Jardines Natural Park located in the Caribbean about 50 miles south of Cuba. This is the last major untouched coral reef in the world, the centerpiece of a 3,000-square-mile marine park filled with coral, caverns, caves, crevices, tunnels, rooms and blue-water holes. The region is sprinkled with hundreds of small tropical islands and mangroves edged by turquoise water. In one short sequence while diving, I spotted a lobster scurrying into a crevice on the left, and then a sea turtle swimming past on the right, angling its body at 45 degrees as it circled. A moment later, a phosphorescent, blue- green angelfish hovered above the coral, and then was joined by 50 bar jack and a squirrelfish with eyes the size of silver dollars. All the while, dozens of tropical fish, one to three inches, swam inches from my faceguard. Anybody who dives has had similar euphoric experiences. Fieldscout Rosey Rosenthal filed a note that while he snorkeled in Kauai last week three sea turtles suddenly appeared around him, and then swam and bobbed about with him. "I love being in the water and I realized it's because it's another world full of mystery and new things at every look," he said. This past week, I met Brad Haven, who was diving at Shasta Lake in Northern California. Haven, 25, was certified as a diver at age 15 through a YMCA program, and since has been diving in California lakes and rivers, as well as Monterey Bay, Hawaii, Venezuela, Thailand and St. Croix in the Caribbean. | | Shasta Lake Shasta can be a sensational lake to dive in because the water clarity is excellent well up the lake arms (yet poor in the main lake bodies), and in addition, there are 22 species of sportfish, more than any lake in California. The best spot at Shasta is near where Squaw Creek enters the lake. Here the boat was anchored in 10 feet of water, and Haven and his partner, Tim Jones, jumped in and disappeared into the emerald waters. Beneath the surface, you can see how the lake here is actually set in a submerged gorge lined by limestone crags. At 20 feet down, as the water temperature cools, you start to see fish, tons of trout and bass, most 4 to 15 inches. Later, above water, Haven would exclaim, "Can you believe how the fish would just come right up to you!" The number of fishing lures on the bottom is the next surprise, something like Davy Jones' tackle shop. Haven picked up a small flashy spoon while Jones found a five-inch lure that looked like a small fish. Immediately, 8 to 10 trout swam right up to the divers within a few feet, and some of the fish even lightly nudged them. When the exploring continued, the divers led the way to an underwater cave. Looking up 15 or 20 feet, you could see how crystal-clear spring water was shooting through a lighted portal, and feel the surge of moving, cold water. Meanwhile, several trout tagged along, following the small group. Haven and Jones continued deeper. At 30 feet, the water temperature dropped to 50 to 54 degrees and sunlight penetration diminished, requiring the use of hoods and gloves for warmth, and spotlights for visibility. They traced the limestone wall down 75 feet, and in the darkness, with visibility reduced to little more than an arm's length, spotted an alarming motion off to the left. This was no plastic dinosaur. The shock of another surprise sighting, and such a large creature emerging from the darkness, caused a surge of heavy, excited breathing, marked by the effervescence of bubbles rising in clouds from the mouthpieces. The creature came closer. Out of the black, the spotlight revealed a four-foot sturgeon, Shasta Lake's mystery fish. It swam right by. Many people do not realize that giant sturgeon even live in the lake. "You never know what's going to happen down there," Haven later said. In a world where many people's lives are shaped by predictability, there is no faster way to spark surprise -- and provide new perspectives to familiar settings -- than by seeing it from the inside of a diving mask. |
