Anyone else seen something 'different' in the Apo area?

[ViperACR]

I missed the Malatapay scheduled pump boat run one time, and while bartering with the cluster of other pump boat operators for the trip over, I noticed a boatman off to the side who was quietly trying to get my attention.

Curious, I walked over too see what was up.. He said he guaranteed 'something special' if I hired him..meaning I didn't owe him anything if what he had to for me to see while diving wasn't worth the effort...


There's more to the story of course, but I'm curious if anyone else has availed of what this particular gentleman knows about and has also seen what I have seen?

[earlmj]

There are some pretty amazing fish to find at Apo that don,t migrate. These are visited by all divers . Perhaps that is what he was refering to.

[ViperACR]

No, you misunderstand. I took him up on his offer, and saw something quite unusual on the sea floor in the general vicinity of Apo Island.

I was wondering if anyone else had taken this little trip, and seen what I have seen after being guided to the same location.

[wak-wak]

Are we supposed to guess what you saw?

[Diver]

No I think that is normal for Apo

There is always a mermaid swimming around the island and I have seen her many times.
The last time that I saw here she had a bra on, there were some complaines about her nudity, but the complains were not mine.

Greetinds J.Diver

[chrissar]

That's a real cracking piece of your experience diver....

[earlmj]

If people go to Apo just to see a " mermaid " then something is heading for the wrong direction... Perhaps those people can spend their time and money better in Burgos Street in Manila . Plenty mermaids and very cheap indeed...
Sad to see what mass tourism can lead to..........

[cebudiver]

there was a rumor of a mermaid found in Ginitillan, Cebu last summer and some villagers from liloan took 3 jeepneys to go up there (30 min drive) to see it - needless to say they came back dissapointed -
at least the folks at Apo are dressing some girl up to satisfy the customers ... even more so if her breasts are showing... and if mermaids are half fish, shouldnt the tails go side to side and not up and down? and is there a fish head and torso with human legs walking around somewhere? so many questions for inquiring minds....
there are also the vodoo, vampires and witches all over the philippines - ask wak-wak ....everyone knows which families have relatives that are....
we had a motion detector light on our beach and when it turned on when a fishing boat went by our beach got the reputation of being enchanted.... shhh. dont tell anyone its just a motion detector! ... it helps keep the people from digging for japaneese gold near our place - everyone knows thats the real reason we bought the land ! ...... only in the philippines ....

[earlmj]

Well cebudiver , You and I know of the existance of the Duyong in the Philippine waters. I was planning to post a picture of it here.so many on the internet but then again.. People tend to like to eat them as well.. Some remote Islands in the Phils are even allowed legal to kill one or two every years in order to get some other kind of animal proteine then from the usuall fish source. You and I know that the species , a sea mamal for those that don,t know , is very much hunted again by Koreans and Japanse... Not close to extinct but getting more rare by the minute. Some 800 !! were killed at the time that Sadam Hussein set fire to all oilwells in Kuwait and so almost the entire populationin the Persian Golf went Patay.
Anyway for those that missed. Dugongs or Duyongs tend to "stand "in the water right up to there somewhat middle. The females have just like women real breasts ,for sure when having a calf... Their appearance in the eyes of the sailors centuries ago having not being able to see or touch a real woman for so many months gave them the idea that these Duyong must be the mermaids. Also named Sirenes ( see Oddyseus ) making their song..
The Stellar Seacow is extinct already and reach over 7 meters. The freshwater MANATEE , inhabits the freshwater bassins of Florida like Everglades , but can also be found for instance in Surinam a former Dutch Colony in Central America .

[cebudiver]

I wouldnt think one would be wearing a bra, though

sailors must have been at sea a looong time to mistake a dugong for a mermaid!

We had manatees come up to our dock in tampa when i lived there - the local supermarkets gave the people who lived on the water the unsold lettuce heads - we fed them and yelled at any boats going over wake speed

In the philippines the problem is killing them for food - fishermen even killed a whale shark a couple years ago - there are a few things I really dislike about the philippines - one is apathy and disregard for the enviroment by most of the local population the other is the tendency for rich people to be above the law - whether is breaking environmental regulations (like the muro-ami fishing boats) or not being prosecuted for crimes- even serious ones