Laura vs. The Remoras

This week we have been down near Palm Beach, on the Atlantic coast of Florida, filming sea turtles and other creatures on the reef.  Scuba diving here is interesting because it's nearly all drift diving.  We jump into the water and simply let the current carry us along the reef.  About half way through a recent dive, a couple of remoras showed up to check us out.  Remoras are those fish you often see with their heads suction-cupped to sharks or sea turtles so they can get a free ride - the hitch-hikers of the sea.  I was busy filming them, and after about five minutes, I felt a hard tap on my shoulder.  I turned to see Laura, who was hovering above me, with her eyes open way too wide.  I knew something was wrong and that she was scared.  

Laura started making strange gestures, like underwater charades, but I didn’t know what she was trying to say.  I pointed to her dive slate, which was attached to her vest.  It’s a magnetic slate that we can use to write underwater.  She was so freaked out that she tried to give it to me, and I shook my head and pointed at her.  I was trying to say “You write!”  Finally, she understood . . . and she started writing.  When she turned the slate around, it said “The fish are eating my head/hair.”

I realized that the remora fish were swirling around her head and grabbing her pony tail.   Then they were picking at her bangs and forehead.  So in an instant, a very peaceful dive turned into a frenzy as Laura flailed wildly to defend her head from two hungry remoras who managed to pull her ponytail loose and yank on the free-flowing strands of wavy red hair.

We were almost to the end of our dive, so we started heading up to the surface, and the remoras stayed down below.  Laura’s eyes slowly went back to normal size.  I told Laura  her hair must look delicious, and that she should shave her head next time if she didn't want that to happen again.

Really the whole situation was just more annoying than scary.  And we saw some beautiful jellyfish near the surface while we were waiting to be picked up.
--Robert Sams