Indonesia Immersion  Text by Mary Finnegan It's a good thing I dive with people with better memories than I, otherwise I could only tell you the name of the country I was in! So though I don't recall the site, and I don't recall the order of events, I couldn't forget the fun we had that day. Shortly after we dropped in above a giant flat expanse of plate coral, the current picked up. And picked up. And picked up. Then picked up some more. We were trying to spend some time looking at things, but I was working so hard that I recall thinking "Um, I'm not really having fun anymore." When things start to go screwy on a dive, I always have two simultaneous thoughts: where are my buddies, and how the hell can I get out of this? I was reassured when a quick glance around revealed that Wendy, Judy, and Dave were all in near proximity, but I just as quickly questioned getting out of the situation. Wasn't gonna happen, except to go up. There was simply no where to tuck in over a giant flat reef. So I figured, if you can't beat it, join it. I looked on the bright side: I was in the same boat (figuratively) as 3 of the best divers I know, the water was clear and warm, and we were over the reef, not being pulled away from it. So we flew as we ascended, having decided as a group to abort the dive. I didn't put my arms out and do my SuperGirl imitation, but I thought about it. The current was in the range of 5 to 7 knots, and with the right attitude, it became a really cool E-ticket ride over sand flats and reef. Judy reminded me later that it was on this first Triggerfish From Hell dive, that we chose to abort, where Dave got attacked by one of these evil bastards, in mid-water, in that righteous current. At first, Dave told us later, he thought that a shark had attacked him. He felt a hard hit on his leg, and then had the feeling of whatever had clamped on shaking its head (with a piece of Dave' s leg in its mouth), like a dog with a bone. He was more than a bit surprised to turn around a see a Titan Triggerfish latched on. He punched it off and continued to ascend. After a short surface interval (our dive was only something like 15 minutes long), we were again dropped on the site, this time into a more benign, but still perceptible current. Titan Triggers create nests in open sandy bottoms, and they are very aggressive about protecting same. Very aggressive. And it's not just the sand near the nest --- they protect a cone of space stretching many feet across and up --- the cone of death, as I came to call it. I saw a nest near the reef, and for a while, I was enjoying watching the Triggers chase other fish away from a safe distance. Nothing like a little schadenfreude from watching big fish picking on little fish, and feeling so smug about being bigger and smarter. But Karma, she is a bitch. The titan eventually turned his evil eye towards me and took serious offense at my presence. I have never seen a fish swim so fast! He came at me at what seemed like 60 mph as a blur of sharp, jagged teeth. I rolled face up into a sitting position, my "negligible housed digicam" (™Judy G) up to protect my face, and kicked my fins as vigorously as I could, not caring whether I was scaring it away or slapping it into oblivion. I also, as I stated on my first telling of the story, may or may not have “screamed like a little girl." For the rest of the trip I was petrified with fear whenever we had to cross any expanses of sand. That day I witnessed Titan triggers attack Peaches' hood and Dave's leg. In both cases I saw it about to happen but was too far away to warn them. The one that attacked Dave was so persistent that a 3mm wetsuit was barely an impediment. I took a picture of the damage when we returned from the dive. When I show my non-diving friends pictures of morays or barracudas or hammerheads, they are incredulous when I explain that I am far less fearful of any of them than I am of the lowly Titan Triggerfish.
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