When I first began my research on sea turtle conservation and tourism in Hawai‘i several years ago, I remember an encounter with a sea turtle. I was swimming a hundred yards or so off the beach, trying to get some wide-angle landscape photos of my research site.
Then I felt something brush up against my leg.
I was swimming in a place where tiger sharks were known to patrol, so it’s fair to say I freaked out for a brief moment.
But when I looked down, I was relieved to see a pizza-sized orb hovering near my knee:
I ducked underwater and snapped this photo: