A Trigger Fish Encounter

So, Fiji. Is gorgeous. I think Stef's just about covered our time there but we had 5 days up in the Yasawa islands. Our accommodation is great and is owned by the chief of the neighbouring village. All the staff are from there too. Most of them have never been off the island or had a job before so it's quite an interesting challenge that the english/new zealand couple are facing who have been brought in to manage it. But the Fijians are friendly and doing a great job. After that we head to Beachomber island which is an entirely different place. I think it's been running for about 25 years and it is an efficient well run resort. We'd heard mixed reports about the atmospere here but we had a great time. The accommodation was lovely and the buffet, all you can eat food even better. We dived nearly every day so we were off the island alot of the time but in the evening there's a band in the bar and partying to be had but not as crazy as we had been told. All was good except I was made to feel exceptionally old and there was some hideous flirting going on in the dinner queue :) Anyway, the main thing I wanted to write about in this post was our last days diving. It was awesome. This might sound odd but I've never been sure if I really enjoy diving. I enjoy the experience it gives me and the opportunity to see so much sealife but perhaps because each time I dive it's always been so long since the last time I always feel slightly nervous and uncomfortable. This time, we've had the opportunity to do quite a few more dives and I started to feel really relaxed and no longer the most inexperienced person on the dive. I've started to really enjoy diving. However, I think this last dive was the most adventourous dive I've ever done. It was called the Supermarket and is a dive where you're expected to see sharks. So, we descend in the water. I'd commented to our dive master that I've never seen a trigger fish so if he sees one can he point it out to me. First thing we see are two trigger fish, coming straight for us. One decides to take a big bite on Geoff's fin. This is quite unnerving. They've a reputation for being quite aggressive when it's their breeding season to protect their eggs. It's officially their breeding season and there turns out to be alot of trigger fish. Wish I'd never asked to see one! Another one has a particular issue with our instructor but once we've run the gauntlet of the trigger fish we reach a depth of about 26 metres and we finally see a shark. And another. And another. And another. There were at least 8. We saw black tip, white tip and a silver tip which was the biggest and well over 2 metres long. We've all been slightly anxious and pulling on our air a bit more than usual so we sadly have to surface but watching the sharks swimming around was amazing. They look so graceful in the water. It's certainly up there with the more memorable dives I've ever done.