So had a little turtle freediving with me at Makalawena today. It followed me around for the full hour I was in the water and this little guy was a total crack up. So I originally got in the water all because the turtle was bobbing his head in the shallows and I thought that I could potentially get some decent shots. But he (or she) kept its distance in the shallows only to follow me out once I decided it was a bit futile trying to chase it down. As soon as I got out to the shelf, where the visibility was a better, The little turtle became more courageous and would cruise back and forth beside me, as if checking out what I was doing looking under the ledges of the coral shelf. I began to swim along side of him (or her) and snap a few side shots when right as I was about head on to it I realized its left eye was missing. Almost as if it had never had one there in the first place. As soon as this registered to me it turned its head so that its good-eyed side scanned toward my direction and as he caught glimpse that I was swimming along side of it, the turtle did a face plant right into the sand. It quickly and skittishly swam away but its curiosity preceded its fear of me and it stuck around for the remainder of my session but was a bit more cautious with approaching me. When I cruised back in it followed my all the way back to the beach into about five foot of water. Crazy turtles.
