By Charles Towne
I have a collection of seashells in a basket beside my desk and on a shelf in my office. I like to sort through them at times and admire their diversity.
Imagine if you can the incredible genius of the creator.
There are thousands of varieties of seashells worldwide, and the simplest of them is a complex biological, living mechanism that man, in his wildest imaginings, can’t even begin to fathom, let alone create.
On my desk is a triangular-shaped tooth, something like three and a half inches long tooth. The tooth is fossilized and came from a shark that would dwarf even the largest of any shark living today.
Its name was Megalodon.
His territory was quite large. It swam anyplace it chose because it had an attitude almost as big as it was. Estimates say that the Megalodon and its kind could grow to an incredible length of 70 feet. As you can imagine, a shark cage isn’t going to do you much good with this big boy.
One of my favorite dive spots in the Florida Keys is the vicinity around and on both sides of that iconic and imposing structure, the Seven Mile Bridge. This area is rampant with a most intriguing and diverse assortment of marine creatures, every one of which, if given the most welcome opportunity, will invite you to dinner as an unwilling guest of honor at a moment’s notice and with no regard to your wishes!
Here in these waters, I have seen sting rays, octopuses, and a broad assortment of beasties possessing very sharp and pointy teeth.
Yeah, sharks galore.
We will talk more about the sharks in another of my rants. On the day in question, I was scuba diving under the north end of the Seven Mile Bridge, searching for whatever might strike my fancy, just enjoying myself. I had come to the surface and was floating there when suddenly I heard, off in the distance, what I took to be a gunshot out in the Gulf. I looked in that direction expecting to see a boat from which someone was shooting, but no matter how hard I searched there was nothing, but just then, much to my surprise and great pleasure, a giant manta ray, probably more than 20 feet across, leaped out of the water!
The incredible creature almost defied gravity momentarily as he hung suspended in the water before crashing back into the water with a terrific splash and a loud bang!
Then I understood where the source of that gunshot had originated. There is some conjecture as to why mantas broach like this. Some say it is to rid themselves of parasites. Some people think it is a means of communication with others of their kind, but I wonder...
These ideas may be partly true, but we will never know. Perhaps there is another, just as valid, reason: to celebrate life!
Somehow, I like that idea, don’t you?
About the Author
Charles Towne shares that, first and foremost, he is a Christian but also an octogenarian, local Apopka author, journalist, wildlife photographer, naturalist, caregiver, and survivor. His life has been, and continues to be, a never-ending adventure filled with possibilities never imagined. He has adopted the philosophy that living fully, laughing uproariously, loving passionately, and learning like there is no tomorrow is a formula for a long and joy-filled life.
