At last, the war in Gaza has ended (for now), and Ashkelon returned to be the nice, quiet, lovely town it is when rockets aren't falling from the sky.
My friend Doron and I went spearfishing there today, to take advantage of the calm sea just before the wind changes and bring along waves.
We arrived to the marina early morning, at dawn and dressed properly after almost freezing in the last dives.
The kayaks were ready, and we set out in calm, clear sea, with promises for warm, sunny weather (up to 25° C).
At the first reef I encountered a school of fish from the Sparus family. At first I thought it was Gilthead Sea Breams that escaped from aquaculture cages, but after spearing the first one I saw it was wild Bluespotted seabream, a much higher valued fish... After that shot, the school learned to keep distance from me, and I couldn't get nearer.
Later on the same reef I was in an ambush, just running out of air in my lungs, when I saw from a distance a group of big fish coming closer. I was ready to take aim, but about 7-8 meters from me, they turned and started swimming away. I rushed after them, got closer and shot the biggest fish in that group. It was a 5.5kg meagre. I hugged the fish and swam to the kayak with a stupid smile on my face. When I reached the kayak I saw Doron arriving with the same smile, with almost exact fish. I guess that when I took the shot at the fish, one of them flew right into Doron's ambush.
I put the fish in the kayak and saw that Doron has speared a nice Dusky Grouper, one of the best fish in the sea.
After that we didn't see any more fish, so we enjoyed the clear water and warm sun and continued diving , taking pictures and avoiding vicious looking jellyfish:
Overall we caught 5 fish and had a great time, I can only hope the area will stay quiet and calm for a long time, and that all the people of this region, both sides of the border, will live their lives without fear and hate.
My friend Doron and I went spearfishing there today, to take advantage of the calm sea just before the wind changes and bring along waves.
We arrived to the marina early morning, at dawn and dressed properly after almost freezing in the last dives.
The kayaks were ready, and we set out in calm, clear sea, with promises for warm, sunny weather (up to 25° C).
At the first reef I encountered a school of fish from the Sparus family. At first I thought it was Gilthead Sea Breams that escaped from aquaculture cages, but after spearing the first one I saw it was wild Bluespotted seabream, a much higher valued fish... After that shot, the school learned to keep distance from me, and I couldn't get nearer.
Later on the same reef I was in an ambush, just running out of air in my lungs, when I saw from a distance a group of big fish coming closer. I was ready to take aim, but about 7-8 meters from me, they turned and started swimming away. I rushed after them, got closer and shot the biggest fish in that group. It was a 5.5kg meagre. I hugged the fish and swam to the kayak with a stupid smile on my face. When I reached the kayak I saw Doron arriving with the same smile, with almost exact fish. I guess that when I took the shot at the fish, one of them flew right into Doron's ambush.
I put the fish in the kayak and saw that Doron has speared a nice Dusky Grouper, one of the best fish in the sea.
After that we didn't see any more fish, so we enjoyed the clear water and warm sun and continued diving , taking pictures and avoiding vicious looking jellyfish:
Overall we caught 5 fish and had a great time, I can only hope the area will stay quiet and calm for a long time, and that all the people of this region, both sides of the border, will live their lives without fear and hate.
1 comment:
looks great Ido!
made me go and have some salmon for lunch...
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