I personally love to go out diving with him - we venture out into waters that I would never attempt on my own, and I have seen things more amazing than I ever imagined. Plus, Bradley is awesome at pointing out fun sights to me - he is able to see things that I can't pick out on the reef - turtles, tako, eels, you name it. He has a sixth sense about finding those things.
Which is great, because it also means he is able to keep me out of danger - if you run into a four foot eel accidentally, that thing just might take a chunk out of you. You have to be aware all the time - which has given me both a greater fear, and a greater appreciation of the ocean and its inhabitants.
Several times, I have seen the fruits of Bradley's tako-hunting labors, but have never seen it in action. Last weekend we went out both on Saturday and Sunday, and I finally got to see my national geographic boyfriend in action. It was sweet. On Saturday, Bradley pointed out several tako to me while we were snorkeling - he showed me what signs to look for on the reef to indicate a tako home, and he basically had me play where's waldo a few times to see if I could spot them. I am pleased to say that I'm finally able to pick them out! Sometimes.
Once he's spotted a hole, Bradley dives down, and pokes around in it with his three-prong. If there is a tako in there, you will all of the sudden see it's eight arms come flying out of there, trying to expel the spear, and protect itself. The first few times he found an occupied hole, the takos were too small for him to take out of the ocean (he is especially careful not to pillage the reef - the state fishing regulations say you shouldn't take out a tako less than one pound, and he adheres to that strictly), but it was fun to watch them fight him off and then swim away so gracefully.
I didn't know this, but octopus have the ability to change their color, which makes them pretty hard to spot sometimes. They can totally blend into the reef. But when Bradley starts to poke around in the hole, those things turned a deep red-brown. I'm pretty sure that color is saying to us....."back off, I'm pissed, and this is my home you're messing with". It's pretty intimidating to me, but Bradley's been doing this awhile, and it doesn't phase him.
Anyhoo....Sunday we went back out again, and this time found a good enough sized tako for him to spear and use for bait. It was crazy! He poked around the hole, and all of the sudden these tentacles come out that are twice the size of any of the tako I've seen so far - yikes! B got him on the spear enough to pull him out of the hole, and try to bag him, but it was quite a feat to watch. You basically have to get the fishing bag over his head, and then try to grab the head through the bag while you remove the spear. The trick is....this whole time....that sucker is fighting for his life, and he's fighting with all eight of his arms grabbing onto anything he can, he is spitting ink like crazy, and he is no doubt getting that beak ready to bite. You really can't hesitate....
I am basically floating there trying to stay out of the way while Bradley wrestles this thing....i swear, it's like watchin Man vs. Wild. There is something unbelievably sexy about knowing that my man can not only protect me out there, but that if this recession thing keeps getting worse....he can provide for us by living off the "fatta da land".
Drumroll please.................
Bradley's Tako
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