Me vs. Titan Triggerfish (Gili Trawangan, Indonesia)

For a revised version of this post, go here.

I was attacked by a f^%;*ing Titan Triggerfish today. It hurted. The SOB got my wrist and took a chunk out of my finger. Little bastard. Another diver was pointing out a bumphead parrotfish and as I swam over to take a look I was ambushed by the trigger. Apparently, when they are nesting they are extremely territorial. Needless to say I will not make that mistake again.

When it first struck I thought one of the other divers was screwing with me. I turned to see said triggerfish swirling around me in a mad frenzy, at which point it went for my middle finger. I then began to thrash around like a lunatic until it backed off. Good times.

That was my afternoon. My morning was punctuated with the scariest moment I’ve had diving. We went to a place by the name of Shark Point (didn't see any) with a fairly robust current. This was a blast at first as I found myself somersaulting gayly in the underwater current. But not long after the thrill ride I unknowingly began to drift away from the gang. The visibility was bad and they were almost out of sight when I made an attempt to rejoin the ranks. Exerting yourself in a current 100 feet underwater and losing your breath provides an excellent path to freakoutville. I did see two of the guys looking around with the 'Where the hell is he?' expression. It was at this point that my ‘Oh shit’ meter began to flash. I thought that I was going for a ride by myself. Not really that big of deal because I knew that eventually they would find me. However, this did not prevent me from coming dangerously close to loosing my shit. If you panic underwater away from another diver you are pretty much ‘F’ for fucked. I narrowly avoided panic and one of the guys leading the dive corralled me in and brought me back to the group. Phewwww!

No Escape (Gili Trawangan, Indonesia)

For a revised version of this post, go here.

March 25th, 2009 - I’m trying to leave this island. I really am. Yesterday I bought a ticket for the boat to the mainland and last night I packed. I didn’t make it.....again. The spectacular dive I had this afternoon may have been influential. Fortunately, another diver brought along a camera and let the guide do the shooting. It was super. Super duper. That's me trying to hump a turtle (below).

We also spotted a Stonefish, a Leaf Scorpion Fish, a Moray Eel, and a species of nudibranch. No clue how the guide can spot Stonefish. They blend perfectly. The other day I spent three minutes looking directly at one before I realized what it was. Since they are also extremely poisonous it would be nice to be able to pick them out of a line up.