Looking to my right Mary was intently willing her eyes to see beyond what was humanly possible. Looking behind me Gordon was hovering with his fin tips barely touching the sand. Giving me the okay sign he pointed two fingers to his eyes and then swept a pointed finger in the direction of the current.
Trying our best to not make noise by exhaling to forcefully we waited impatiently in a small depression on the sea floor. We were mentally willing the great beasts to us and after an eternity I saw Gordon slowly drift into our vision, he swept his hand in a circle over his computer and as if breaking a trance I looked down and saw that my nitrogen bars had nearly maxed out and we were nearing no-decompression limits. So entranced in seeing the great beast I had forgotten to check my computer so Mary and I slowly drifted up to coral mounds that we had been told were the cleaning stations and took up our hunter positions yet again at a shallower depth.
Sixty minutes into the dive I saw Gordon waving to me and he pointed at a rock ledge a few feet behind me. Not wanting to avert my eyes from the Manta hunt I finally relented and moved over to the ledge. Not seeing anything I got closer to where my mask was almost level with the ledge and then a crocodile fish materialized out of nowhere right in front of me. I jumped back and saw Gordon having a robust belly laugh as he again swept his hand in a circle over his computer and pointed up indicating it was time to end the dive.
Seventy one minutes after the dive began we broke the surface without seeing Mantas.
To be continued.......
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