Martine dove down towards some coral and waved for me to follow. Under some coral, he pointed to a tail and then lightly tapped it. IIn a split-second, a green moray eel whipped around and poked out its face to bare its little teeth. I started to get nervous and floated upwards until Martine pointed to his head for “tink.” Then he moved his hands in unison away from his chest to remind me to exhale slowly in order to lower down. I lowered, hit the bottom softly, sat face to face with the eel, and watched in amazement as it squiggled while staring at me, without doing a thing.
Photo: Snorkeler off West Bay beach, Roatan Island, Honduras, courtesy of Amanda Coggin
