A few weeks ago, on Monday morning, March 9th, Vicki and I were preparing to leave our favorite vacation spot in Cozumel. We had been there for a wonderful time of scuba diving, which most of you know is a shared passion of ours. We love the beauty, the serenity, the uniqueness of each dive. We enjoy the time together, and we love the dive community. The divers we’ve met over the years come from so many different backgrounds, countries, ethnicities, ages, occupations, and faiths - but virtually all find something of beauty, joy, and grace in creation, regardless of how they define the nature of its origin! I see it as part of God’s divine canvas. But regardless of one’s view, diving provides a powerful, shared experience. I love it and, as you also know, I love capturing glimpses of marine majesty through underwater photography. So… I took all the pics in this post during those days… including some special “Pollo” photos which I hope you’ll read further to discover :)
Mariano, friend and Master Diver, with a gentle Hawksbill turtle.
High among treasured values of diving are relationships we’ve made along the way; especially the dive friends, photographers, shop staff, instructors, and dive masters there in Cozumel - most of whom are connected with the Aqua Safari Dive Shop. The dive masters are in a class of their own. Many exhibit a calmness, a “Zen-like” persona among us recreational divers and, especially, with nature and sea-life. These masters generally have tens of thousands of dives under their belts. They aren’t proving anything… they are serving recreational divers like Vicki and me and caring for the reef and its diverse nautical residents. They seem to find genuine joy in sharing the treasures of the sea with us, while protecting their community in the deep blue at the same time.
Giant Green Moray Eel deep under a coral overhang
Even the dive masters’ dive-posture is most often calm, sort of floating effortlessly with the current, keeping an eye on every essential aspect of the group, exuding a kind of “oneness” with the environment. I consider them something like the good shepherds of the sea. In fact, divers often see them pointing out a shark or giant green moray, or following a gentle turtle or beautiful eagle ray as if they were the deferential gatekeeper to their homes, their hidden gardens under the sea. And when they find something tiny they bring you up close, carefully, so you can see the beauty.
Lovely, large nurse shark
Spotted Box Fish
One of Vicki’s favorite “little cuties”
We have come to an immense appreciation of these dive masters as friends, as servants to the sea and its visiting guests, and as guardians of the reefs. You may think I’m exaggerating. Perhaps a bit, but it is hard not to see these masterful men and women as wise and kind gurus to us disciples of diving.
Two long-time friends, the Sting Ray and his companion Bar Jack
Back to Monday morning. It was about 8am. Vicki and went to the dock to say farewell to friends and staff, the boat crews, and the dive masters. We were flying out that afternoon - so no diving for us. You see, it is dangerous to fly or travel to high altitudes within 24 hours of your last dive. So, as we often do, we went to the dock on our last day to see folks off for their diving adventure, to trade email addresses and phone numbers, and to say “See you next time.”
As we were waiting for the boats to arrive, I went in to the dive shop to ask one of the staff, Alejandro, for Porfirio’s email address. I thought this might be perceived as an unusual request, as we usually get contact info from the person face to face. But I know Alejandro and the staff pretty well, and I wasn’t sure if I’d see Porfirio that morning. I had a few pics I wanted to send to him in case we didn’t connect that day. So I asked.
Painted Elysia… tiny treasure, less than half an inch long
Oh… I don’t think I mentioned that Porfirio is one of the senior dive masters. His nickname is Pollo (Spanish for Chicken!). I’m not sure how he got the name, but he really “owns” it. He always has a small squeaky-toy rubber chicken attached to his dive gear. You can see it attached to his left shoulder strap in the pic. Pollo smiles and squeaks it often just to get a smile out of friends on the boat. Vicki and I have dived many times with Pollo… at almost all of the Cozumel reef sites and even on the one ship-wreck there. We had been diving together on Friday just a few days before. Like always, Pollo was squeaking his little rubber chicken… prying smiles out of all of us.
Pollo is the embodiment of a peaceful soul in his underwater lair. On Friday’s dive, Walter was the master diver leading the group on point and Pollo was following behind the group - sort of keeping rear guard. I often tend to be in the back as well because I meander around taking photos. Toward the end of our time on this dive, I saw a large Hawksbill turtle come into view with Pollo following him… Now, age-wise, Pollo is a mature guy - not quite to my decade but not too far behind. Pollo and I motioned to each other about the beauty of this ancient sea friend. The turtle was large, serene, and probably older than either of us (they can live over 100 years). It was one of those beautiful moments you share with a dive friend.
Lining up for a photo
Polo and a beautiful Hawksbill
Eyes of a Peacock Flounder “Here’s looking at you”
I saw a unique opportunity lining up as the turtle and Pollo came near me. Wonderfully I had a similar opportunity with Mariano a couple days prior (see the photo above). Knowing dive masters are often not the subjects captured in dive photos, this might be a special moment to catch a pic of Pollo - guardian of the sea, with one of his “old buddies” from the reef. I imagined capturing a nice photo might just give a glimpse of Pollo to his family and friends - especially his little grandkids. (Yes, those thoughts and feelings actually jumped into my mind - and I knew I’d love sharing this with Pollo soon.) I positioned myself in front of the turtle with Pollo behind… the current moving us in unison as a dancing trio in the water… Then I worked hard to get the two of them framed up appropriately, was within inches of the turtle as he approached me, snapped a few pics, backed off and waved bye-bye to the Hawksbill imagining we shared some creature to creature simpatico — all the while savoring the moment and the thought of conversation around some good photos. Pollo and I finished up the dive together… last ones on the boat I believe… It was a nice dive.
Tiny Brown Spotted Anemone Cleaner Shrimp
On the boat, we all reflected on the dive… some of the “finds,” and some of the special pics. I knew this would be one of them. During those moments we connected with each other about the stuff of life. Pollo often shares about the joy of his work… his enduring love of the sea and diving. Some of us senior types were sharing family stories together and Pollo had been speaking so proudly of his kids and grandkids - he had even been showing us pictures that morning of his youngest grandchild. I thought how nice it might be to share a special pic of grandpa Pollo for the family… so they might get a sense of him in that special place.
Soon we were back at the dock. The water was getting a bit rough and we knew that diving might be out for the weekend. It was. Things calmed down a bit and we were able to get a last two dives in on Sunday. Then Vicki and I relaxed and got packed up for our departure on Monday afternoon. When Monday morning rolled around, we went down to the pier, as I mentioned a bit earlier, to say our good-byes.
Moments after those rogue waves hit our pier… the one at the harbor was virtually identical… note the arch at the end
Oddly, as we were waiting for the boats to arrive, a few huge rolling waves came toward us and actually swamped the pier. There were several sets of them. We were all looking for the cause. The sea was calm. There were no cruise ships in sight. We were shocked at the waves - I even captured the aftermath of them on the hotel property with my I-phone… One of our dive friends, Jay, was on his third floor balcony and called out to find out what was going on with these crazy, rogue waves. We wondered out loud if there may have been an earthquake or tremble off shore somewhere… it was just so odd, so unique.
A few minutes later, several of the dive staff were running here and there at the shop. They closed down the dives. No boats would be coming today. I asked Yamilet what was going on and she said, chocking back her emotions, that there had been an accident at the harbor… something to do with a boat… something to do with their team. You could see the sense of concern in the faces of all the staff. Something happened with one of our dive boats. The rogue waves lifted a boat into the pier. The decorative cement archway, used mostly for weddings and photo opportunities, was hit by the boat - and the arch collapsed. Pollo was injured. Everyone felt that gnarled up twisting in their soul as they waited, and worried. We talked with several, prayed together with some, and after a few hours learned that Pollo was loading the boat when the waves came through, seemingly out of nowhere. He was caught by surprise in the collapse of the archway, his life forfeit as a result of the most unexplainable accident.
A Hawksbill in “the blue,” Just hanging out
You might only see cruel coincidence in this difficult turn of events. You may see a divine act… even a gracious one in terms of a man who loved the sea and the total surprise of the situation. I knew Pollo to be a man of kindness, character, and spiritual thoughtfulness. We all felt, and feel, the pang of his loss — and the mysterious wonder of it all. Pollo will certainly be missed.
Porfirio (Pollo)
Master Diver, Friend to Many
Amazingly, the pics I took (and forwarded to the shop for family and friends) were the last of Pollo diving… . and I believe they were during Pollo’s last dive. I suspect the calm of what you see in the photo is what he is experiencing now. Personally, I believe in Christ, in spiritual life, in eternal life… and I trust in the power of purpose and love in moments like these. Praying with family and friends for peace and comfort.