That's me!
A hawkbill turtle that was totally friendly and fearless. That's my hand, trying to pet its shell.
This is known as "Crown-of-Thorns". It's sting is quite poisonous and if you happen to be stung, seek immediate medical attention. The toxin is a necrotizing enzyme that eats away at the surrounding tissue. Worse case scenario, you either develop paralysis and will require surgery to remove bits of the sting that may be lodged under the tissue.
There were two lemon sharks circling the area we were in. I was a bit nervous at first because I was the tiniest diver in the group, and therefore, the easiest target. But these sharks showed no interest in us at all. The biggest one of the two was about 8 feet. Big suckers.
This is a black-tipped, reef shark. Completely harmless, never been known to attack humans.
One of my girlfriends who travel with me on a regular basis, finally sent me her photos of dives in Tahiti. We swam with reef sharks, hawksbill and green turtles, as well as lemon sharks. Vis was about 80 to 100 feet and the scenery was absolutely mind-boggling.
