I have decided to post photos (or videos) of past travels in general and our eight year sailing adventure on SV Irie in particular for Wordless Wednesdays. Also, I can’t manage “completely wordless”, but I’ll try my best at “almost wordless”. 🙂
With thousands of photos and tons of movies haphazardly archived over the years, I can’t easily pick what to post, so I use the weekly prompt of the Daily Post to inspire my Wordless Wednesdays. This week’s Daily Post photography theme is “graceful“.
One early morning, in the bay of Hanamoenoa on the island of Tahuata in the Marquesas, French Polynesia, we saw the tips of wings break the water surface. It didn’t take long for Mark and I to don our snorkel gear and join our neighboring friends in the water to observe the unique spectacle of gentle manta rays feeding on plankton in the bay. Their wing span is wider than our length and their presence was majestic. The four of us just relaxed in the water, while these graceful giants swam back and forth, once in a while touching our bodies with their velvety wings, unwithered by the big, indigestible nuggets floating in their soup. Enjoy this peaceful encounter!
What comes to mind when you think about graceful?
Discover more from Roaming About
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
January 25, 2017 at 15:29
They are incredibly graceful creatures Liesbet; is that your own video? For me, butterflies are the essence of gracefulness.
January 26, 2017 at 11:21
They are pretty amazing and so are butterflies – graceful and fluttering. 🙂 Yes, I shot quite a few videos of this experience and many others, mostly wildlife encounters and cultural events. Never really did anything with them, though.
January 25, 2017 at 15:35
How incredible! What wonderful creatures <3
January 26, 2017 at 11:22
🙂 As long as the water is warm enough, these experiences are tremendously enjoyable.
January 25, 2017 at 15:44
I had the chance to swim with some manta rays at a beach in Hawaii a couple of years ago. What an incredible experience that was! I love your video – it really captures how gentle and graceful they are.
January 26, 2017 at 11:23
Thanks, Janis. And so wonderful you could experience swimming with these amazing rays as well. I’d love to go to Hawaii one day!
January 25, 2017 at 16:44
Wonderful images Liesbet, manta rays are so graceful and gentle. We swam with them near Puerto Vallarta in Mexico many years ago and it was an amazing experience. Thank you for reminding me! :o) xxx
January 26, 2017 at 11:29
It is so nice to know that these rays are frequenting all these places in the Pacific! What a beautiful experience you had. Great memories, for you and for me. 🙂
January 25, 2017 at 17:38
Absolutely astounding!! As you can imagine I would so love ot have this experience. The water is so clear and graceful is the perfect word to describe the movement. Wow!
January 26, 2017 at 11:30
The way you are having adventures, I am sure you will get a chance to swim with them soon, Sue. Maybe on a next trip to Mexico? Or Hawaii? Just the thought must make you warm inside, when you look at the snow outside. 🙂
January 25, 2017 at 19:42
I really enjoy your post ! That’s looks amazing 😀
January 26, 2017 at 11:34
Thanks, Beata and happy travels!
January 26, 2017 at 14:59
Thank you ! 🙂 I hope will be a lot of travels in the future 😀 I invite to read my post about Alicante, Madrid, Barcelona and Naples. I am going to publish about more places in the future 😀
January 26, 2017 at 17:49
Great!
January 25, 2017 at 23:06
Beautiful video of the manta rays! Graceful indeed!
January 26, 2017 at 11:35
Thanks, Terri. Looking though my collection, I wish I was back in the water with them!
January 26, 2017 at 06:08
I’ve never had a chance to swim with rays before. Hoping to one day.
January 26, 2017 at 11:36
You will, once you start cruising. I can’t remember seeing rays in the Bahamas, but there are definitely some around in the Caribbean! Not mantas, but eagle and spotted rays.
January 26, 2017 at 08:18
So cool! Hoping to see/do this some day.
January 26, 2017 at 11:37
An experience of a lifetime, especially when stumbling upon them in the wild. 🙂
January 26, 2017 at 17:56
Graceful is the perfect word choice for your video. Unfortunately, if I had been there, it wouldn’t have been. We went swimming with sting rays once and I freaked out — I’m not really good with fish.
Stephanie @ SV CAMBRIA
January 27, 2017 at 11:34
I thought about the manta rays and about the graceful sea lions in the water (not on land) of the Galapagos, when I read the photo challenge topic this week. I’ll save the sea lions for “agile” or “frisky” whenever that topic comes up. 🙂 The mantas are imposing, but oh so gentle. I could see why they would freak you out, though. I guess you wouldn’t be very fond of swimming with sharks either? 🙂
January 26, 2017 at 20:29
The first image that comes to mind for me when I hear the word ‘graceful’ is that of a dancer. These mantra rays actually look like they are dancing. They are absolutely gorgeous!
January 27, 2017 at 11:36
Dancers are graceful as well! I find it so interesting how one word can trigger different images for different people: dancer, butterflies, flowers, manta rays. So many ways to interpret the topic. The mantas in the video do look like they are dancing, or gracefully flying through the water.
January 27, 2017 at 02:25
Fantastic images, Liesbet! They look a bit scary to me, but then I’m a terrible scaredy cat and I’m glad to hear they’re gentle as well as so graceful. 🙂
January 27, 2017 at 11:39
They are very big, but they didn’t pay any attention to us in the water. It was truly amazing that they kept circling back and we didn’t have to do any effort to observe them. Usually, sea creatures swim away and cover quite some ground when you hang out with them and you have to follow them for a while, like sea turtles or sharks. These guys just stayed close, because that’s where their minuscule food particles were.
January 27, 2017 at 07:49
Beautiful! For all the downs of the cruising life, there are the miraculous moments that make all the frustration melt away. We’ve seen plenty of eagle and sting rays, but never a manta in the wild. We are always on the lookout though!
January 27, 2017 at 11:41
You are correct, Lucy! I hope you guys will get some “return” soon, probably whenever you dip your toes in that crystal clear Bahamian water and you see Hastings run on the whitest of sands. 🙂 For many years, those miraculous moments made it worthwhile for us to keep cruising, until they didn’t anymore.
January 29, 2017 at 00:06
So cool!
January 30, 2017 at 12:10
Thanks!