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Dive the South Pacific
2
Dolphins delight
Diving in French Polynesia isn’t all sharks. One day during a dive, half a dozen dolphins showed up.
We were swimming over to a reef at Rangiroa when two divers started pointing and waving. The dolphins emerged slowly from the deep blue. At first, we could only discern a blob. Then the dolphins separated into distinct shapes and got close enough for us to see shades of silver skin and scars. Their echolocating squeaks vibrated in our heads.
They swam in formation, looping and twirling. The divers’ exhaled air rose in bubble sheets and the dolphins cut in and out of the curtain in a surreal ballet.
“The crazier you act, the closer they’ll get,” Randy said. And he was right.
At this point, novice divers might find themselves in over their heads. We were in fast currents, bouncing with the dolphins . . . up to 15 feet one minute, down to 60 feet the next.
There were more relaxing dives, of course. At Apataki, the Fish Holes site was a garden of hard coral and fish — platinum African pompano, lionfish, snapper of all kinds, plus an assortment of butterfly fish and angelfish.
Majestic manta rays
Manta rays soon emerged: two dozen, some flapping on the surface, more swooping back and forth below. Each was easily 12 feet across. They came at us, their huge white mouths open to catch plankton, passing under us, over us, beside us.
At one point, half a dozen rays filled my camera viewfinder... a swirl of wings and tails and gaping mouths. Several had remoras attached to their backs like white flags. One actually bumped into me, brushing my shoulder with a silky soft push.
Vocabulary Focus
majestic (adj) [mE5dVestik] beautiful, powerful or causing great admiration and respect
formation (n) [fC:5meiFEn] a certain structure, arrangement or shape
surreal (adj) [sE5ri:l] strange; not like reality; like a dream
in over one’s head (idiom) to be involved in a situation that is too difficult for you to deal with or to manage
Specialized Terms
echolocate (v) 回声定位 to locate objects by emitting high-pitched sounds; the echoes are then interpreted to determine the direction and distance of the object
plankton (n) 浮游生物 very small plants and animals which float in great numbers on the surface of the water and on which fish and other animals feed
remora (n) 鲫鱼 a fish with a suction disk on the top its head that is used to attach itself to a larger fish or a ship’s hull
潜入南太平洋
2
海豚带来的喜悦
在法属波利尼西亚潜水遇到的不都是鲨鱼。有一天潜水时，6只海豚出现在我们眼前。
我们游向朗伊罗的一处礁石时，有两位潜水者开始指着某处招手。海豚慢慢地从海洋深处现身。一开始，我们只能看到一团东西。接着，那几只海豚分散开来，逐渐看得出个别的形状，后来近到连它们身上银色表皮的色调及疤痕都显而易见。它们回声定位的叫声在我们的脑中震动着。
它们或绕圈、或旋转，排成一个队形游开。潜水者吐出的空气形成一片气泡帷幕，海豚游进这片帷幕后随即穿出，就像在表演一出超现实的芭蕾舞剧。
蓝迪说：“你动作愈疯狂，它们就会靠你愈近。”他说得很对。
在这种时候，潜水新手或许会觉得身不由己。你身处快速的水流中，与海豚冲撞……这一分钟你往上飘到水下15英尺处；下一分钟又会被带到低至60英尺的海中。
当然，还有一些比较轻松的潜水。阿帕塔奇的鱼洞场是硬珊瑚与鱼类的园地；这里有白金非洲鳎参鱼、狮子鱼、各类笛鲷，还有一些鲽鱼及天使鱼也在其间穿梭。
尊贵的魟鱼
很快地，魟鱼出现了。有二十几条，一些在水面上拍动，但有更多在水下前后扑来冲去。每条的直径动辄在12英尺上下。它们正对着我们游来，巨大白色的嘴巴是张开着的，为了捕食浮游生物，之后就从我们下方、上方或身旁游过去。
一度，大约六七条魟鱼挤满了我相机的取景窗……翻转的鱼翼、鱼尾及不断张合的嘴。有几条的背上还吸附着䲟鱼，看起来好像白色的旗子。其中有一条甚至撞到了我，如丝绸般滑溜地擦过我的肩膀。
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