The Wonderful Tropical Ocean of Peru

Those of you who have known me for a long time may know that I had ambitions to be a marine biologist in a previous lifetime.  For better or for worse I have long since abandoned that dream, but it has been a very neat experience to see the tropical oceans and the life they contain.

On Saturday Feb 3rd we took a day trip to Organos, about two hours (i.e. 80km on Peruvian roads) south from Zorritos.  The attraction here is that there is a sea turtle 'sanctuary' (I use that term loosely - it is just an area of the open ocean where they feed turtles so they are almost always present), and since they are a source of tourist income they are less likely to be killed by fisherman.

We thus all had the opportunity to swim with sea turtles!  It was a very neat experience, although Terran and Monica got a bit freaked out and only stayed in the water for maybe 10 minutes or so.  We hired a local photographer with a GoPro to take some pictures and videos of Maija and I.  The quality is poor due to the low resolution and the lack of water clarity, but it is still pretty special.

Maija and a turtle

Everybody on the pier before getting in

Wyatt with a turtle

Sea Turtles around the pier

After seeing the turtles, we took a boat out to an abandoned oil rig a few km off shore.  When shutting it down, the oil company had left the structure as a refuge for animals, and it is currently populated by sea lions and tons of birds.

Sea Lions on an old oil platform

The kids and Lita on the boat

Someone on the pier had just caught a fish and was sharing with anyone who wanted it.  I don't remember what it is called, but it is somewhat related to ceviche - you basically just carve off a hunk of raw fish, drizzle a lime over it, and eat it.  It was quite good, and just about impossible to beat the freshness.

While we were on the dock, a fishing boat came in and started offloading their catch.  Included in the 'assorted' bin were a couple of sharks - a small hammerhead (looking it up on Google later on, the species looks to be a Bonnethead) and something else that I can't identify.  The kids got to touch them and feel how the skin felt different going from nose to tail vs. the reverse, and learned how to identify a shark (5 gill slits vs. a fish's one).

Organos is a nice little town, not as touristy as Mancora (which is just up the road, and has tons of tourists, surfers, etc).  Some more pictures from that day:

One other cool thing... a few days after this, I was swimming in the ocean just across the street from our house, when I heard a quick slapping sound repeated.  Looking over, I saw a school of flying fish about 10m from me, all jumping out of the water.  Again, another cool ocean animal that I never thought I would see in real life.