The first time I saw a lionfish was in Egypt. It was absolutely one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen underwater. The majestic “mane” of this fish was stunning as I swam up to the lionfish. It wasn’t until years later I heard anything again about the lionfish. But this time the fish was nothing short of a hideous menace destroying the Caribbean reef.

I quickly understood the danger of these fish to their non-native habitat and supported the efforts to get them out of the Caribbean. (This is a big deal since I am a vegetarian who doesn’t eat any fish or sea life at all.)

In case you don’t know about lionfish here are some quick facts:

1. Lionfish reproduce at a rate of about 2 million eggs per year. Their larvae have a much higher survival rate than other sea life.
2. Lionfish eat anything and everything. They even eat the small cleaner fish nothing else eats.
3. Outside of their native Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Southern & Western Pacific Ocean they have no predators.
4. Because of the amount of fish life they are consuming the reefs are dying, fisherman are in danger of not having fish to catch, turtles and other creatures who need to be cleaned in order to survive are losing their cleaners to the apetite of the lionfish.
5. They are threatening the diving industry, fishing industry, tourism industry, and diets of the people in the Caribbean, the U.S., South America, Central America and now the Mediteranean sea by eating the fish life which sustain these industries.
6. They can survive for up to 3 months without food and only lose 10% of their body mass. They can also live for up to 15 years, all the while consuming massive amounts of fish life.
7. Invasive lionfish are out-breeding, out-competing and out-living native fish stocks and other marine species. The consequences impact the food security and economies affecting over a hundred million people, according to this incredibly informative blog.
8. Lionfish are now eating so much they are developing liver disease. Info from this site.
9. Lionfish are now even eating themselves according to this site.
10. Lionfish have venomous spines which have been said to make grown men cry when they are “stung”.

We have been hearing a lot about divers hunting these fish on our different dive trips. My husband has been desperate to go on one of these hunting trips. So when we found out Utopia Village is hunting lionfish to help decrease the poplulation he couldn’t wait to see how it is done.

For me it was a very mixed experience. I was not happy to see a living creature killed but by the same token I know the harm they are doing and at the end of the day they must be eradicated if there is much hope for the reef, the fish life, and the humans which depend on the reef and fish for survival.

We saw about 18 lionfish killed in 3 days, one even fed to a shark as we watched. The amazing chef at Utopia Village made lionfish ceviche which every meat eater raved about. (Evidently it is a delicious fish, and it has a really high Omega-3 count so it is really healthy too.)

 

Underwater watching the spears come out, and pierce these beautiful fish was hard for me. It was so abrupt and forceful. I watched them men change as they watched the dive master kill. There was cheering and celebration through our masks at they collected the fish, forced them into the PVC tubing and carry them to shore. I focused on the beauty surrounding me as a reminder of why this was so important. However, once we were on the boat and I saw these fish, and was reminded of the destruction I was quite proud of what tiny little bit we had done that day to make a difference in Utila.

While scuba diving in Utila we saw the most amazing things. In fact I would say scuba diving in Utila is probably some of the best scuba diving we have done in the world so far. I know part of it was the amazing care we were given by the staff from Utopia Village and part of it was just the pure quality of the reef. Next to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia it has the most living coral in the world. Man did it show itself too!

At one point on our first day of diving we came up to 35′ and as I looked around I was struck at how much it looked like I was diving in an aquarium! There were gorgeous fan corals, huge brain corals, anemones, feather dusters and more. Everything I looked at was alive and beautiful.  Here is a bit of my very unpolished, and unprofessional video, I apologize in advance…

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We saw things I have never seen like baby sea slugs, seahorses, certain anemones, and other little creatures we have no idea what they were.

One of the days as we were en route to the dive site our Captain, Elvis, and dive master, Fede, yelled for us to get our fins and snorkels on. They had spotted a school of dolphins and wanted us to have the chance to snorkel alongside.  They swam with us for quite a while, talking, playing and swimming alongside of us. I felt myself tearing up as I snorkeled along side these gorgeous creatures, close enough to hear them and watch their graceful movements in the water. I have had dolphins swim close to our dive boats but never have I been able to jump in with them and swim along.

While this experience was amazing and definitely touched my soul. The two days we snorkeled with Whale Sharks took my breath away. I have been eager to see one of these beautiful creatures for more than 10 years. (Which is what lead me to Utila.) Of course the team at Utopia Village knew this is what we had all come for. They didn’t stop until we found them.

The procedure is that when they spot a tuna boil it is a pretty good indication there is a whale shark in the vicinity. (Tuna feed on sardines, they jump in and out of the water making it look like the water is boiling. Where there are sardines there is plankton, where there is a lot of plankton there is apt to be a whale shark, in the right seasons and locations.) So, once we spotted a tuna boil we were instructed to put on our fins and snorkels and get ready. The first day this involved a long time sitting on the back of the boat waiting to spot this beautiful beast.

Everyone else on the boat had pretty much thrown in the towel, but one of the other divers and I hung in there, determined we were going to see a whale shark. Elvis, Fede and Anna (another dive master) were also determined. So when they spotted the whale shark and yelled for us to jump in I went, and there he was, right below me. The deep blue color of his body seemed to almost fade into the deep ocean water as he glided through. The white spots served as markers to help you follow him as he descended deep into the ocean, just as quickly as I was able to jump in to see him. I was blown away. In this 30 second experience I had just realized my dream and this gorgeous spotted fish didn’t disappoint. We were lucky enough to swim with another whale shark that day and two more the next day thanks to the determination of Utopia Village crew, and our dive mates.

I knew the experience would be special, I knew it would change me but I didn’t realize how much the experience of waiting, watching, and being in the presence of this gorgeous shark would make me want to be in the water every day. I also felt so blessed that the crew truly wanted us to have these experiences. We felt their genuine joy and determination which made the experience that much better. We felt like a team, like a diving family sharing the same purpose and the same magical moments.

Here is a video of one of our sightings thanks to Paul at Utopia Village for shooting, sharing and allowing me to post it here.

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Everyday we went out to dive in Utila we passed this colorful little island, Pigeon Cay. I took so many pictures of it as we passed it daily because it was so beautiful sitting there by itself in the water. I was intrigued by this little island because our boat captain, Elvis, and several other staff members at Utopia Village lived there, and they were some of the happiest, kindest and most genuine people I had ever met.

 

I have always envied our dive captains and dive masters on our vacations because I think any life involving being on or in water everyday has a pretty good chance of being fantastic. But Elvis, and his neighbors seemed to have even more figured out about life. They are happier than almost any Americans I know.

 

 

Paul, the owner of Utopia Village, graciously offered to give the guests a tour of Pigeon Cay so I jumped at the chance. (I can’t tell you why but I was definitely being called there.) It is a short and beautiful boat ride from the resort, just long enough to let what little bit of stress that may be lingering fly away in the ocean breeze.

 

Pigeon Cay is primarily a fishing village. As you approach the island there are small fishing boats lining the entire island, as if to proclaim proudly what sustains this charming place. We walked off the dock and through a little restaurant with this great sign hanging above the kitchen:

I immediately believed they were completely correct.

As our very entertaining guide, Paul explained, this little island has 750 inhabitants of which 450 live on the island at any given time. The only water they have is collected in rain barrels and trickles down from the city line once a week or once a month. They have one sidewalk which runs the length of the island, there are no roads and no vehicles. Every house has an ocean view since the island is only wide enough for a house or two on each side of this tiny island. On many of the properties families live with the elderly members living close to the walkway, then in a house behind would be a child of the eldest member and the child’s family and in some cases there might be yet another house behind that where a grandchild would live with their family. I love this. I believe being raised close to our extended family gives us more self-esteem and a better sense of belonging in this world. It also greatly helps the parents to have other family close by-so here could be a clue about the lower stress life they seem to lead.

There is a small school on the island which houses kids from kindergarten through 12th grade. They have a great system where the children attend classes at different times per day, for instance kindergarten-3rd goes from 7:30-12:30, 4th-9th gores from 12:30-5:30 and 10th-12th goes from 5:30-9:30. It is a really creative way to keep class sizes small, kids engaged and manageable on a very landlocked island.

There is a little gazebo on the island where women gather at a certain time each day to discuss soap operas, family life etc. The men come to the gazebo later in the day to discuss politics, sports and religion. I think this is about the coolest thing ever! What a sense of community this creates. I did feel badly for the teenagers when Paul pointed out there really is no place to date so the kids usually hang out at the end of docks to get away and have some privacy.

 

As we walked through town each person greeted us with a smile as they went about their business. They seemed settled, calm and happy. They live a simple life surrounded by family and friends. While things are hard, with many people surviving from day to day and often being in danger of running out of food, their disposition suggests that they stay focused on the positive things in life and find joy in the beauty surrounding them.

I left the island feeling that in some way it held something more for me. I don’t know what it was about the place but I knew I had been blessed to tour it and to meet several people who live there. I was blown away by the amazing things Paul and Chrisna, the owners of Utopia Village are doing to help the island with education, recycling and more, without disrupting these peoples heritage or culture.

As we walked the dock back to the boat we passed three guys jamming to their radio. Their faces full of bright smiles as they laughed and sang along to the upbeat tunes. I wanted to stay, have a beer and jam with them. I don’t think there are many better ways to spend an afternoon…