Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 37
A giant Manta ray,
Manta birostris
, in the Miil Channel off the island of Yap, sec-
onds before the earthquake struck.
Extremely well, it turned out. Everybody in the town had felt the quake,
but nothing had been damaged. A few old Japanese beer bottles in the dive
shop had fallen over. My wife Liz had been in the hotel swimming pool when
the quake hit. She felt a slight sloshing sensation and heard a sound like a
truck going by.
Under the sea it was a dif erent story. Over the next few weeks, after I
had left the island, Mike and Diane dove in other places where they were
familiar with the confi guration of the reef from numerous previous dives.
They found that many massive slabs of coral had broken free and slid down
slopes on the reef.
