Marine life, from tiny blennyfish to humpback whales, are a total passion for me. As a child I spent summer weekends on a small-ish sailboat in San Francisco bay, and coming into the docks in Alameda, I was dunked into a small triangle between slips to splash about. To my horror, a gazillion tiny fish began brushing against me, in my mind, nibbling on my soft pink skin.

The first 'fish' I caught was a small sand shark, and I dutifully buried it in my back yard. I did learn to catch trout, but those aren't marine kine!

Snorkeling, for the first time, in Tahiti (actually on Huahine), I was bravely out past knee-depth, and put my head down to look back to see how far I had come from shore. To my horror, a whole bunch of tiny blue fish had congregated under my body! I screamed, ripped off my snorkel and stood up ... then realized if these denizens of the deep had wanted to eat me, they surely would have started.

I regained my courage and composure, and discovered the amazing undersea world of reefs.

I moved to Kona, Hawaii, and spent many glorious days snorkeling along the coast ... More on that another day!