Conch Shell Snails – by Marike

Conch Shell turned upside down

Before we knew to look out for these snails, I didn’t see them. There were just so many fish to look at! However, once we knew to look out for them I started noticing them,. Each time I would flip one over to see if it would flip right way up again. (Or rather, HOW it would complete this feat.)

The first few times we tried this, we would hang around the conch for a while. However, those wily conch snails would not be fooled into blowing their cover of ”harmless, undeniably inedible rocks” and obstinately refused to emerge from the shell..

During one dive, I was at the tail end of our diving group. A dive is typically made up of the following: mooring the dingy, descending right where you are, swimming in a direction for half of your dive time and then turning around and coming back. It really is like swimming in an aquarium, so no one was in a terrible rush. We were on our way back to the dingy when I spotted the conch.

At the time when I flipped it over, everybody was still diving around me, and I made a point of trying to ”hide” behind the conch. With the other conch shells that we had flipped over, we couldn’t see much of the snail. As soon as we had peeked in, it would pull back. They would WATCH you! Their eyes are very round, and, you can see them glinting up at you from the darker recesses of the shell.

Notice the eyes just above the lip

As I saw the other divers starting to swim away, I rose a little from my low position so I could see if there was actually any hope of seeing the conch flip over. It was then that I realised that the conch was also watching the other divers leave! It’s eyes were stretched out long and swivelled in the direction of my fading dive group, looking creepily intelligent. 😉

Look for the eyes on their extensions

I almost didn’t see it flip over. My dad came back to see where I was and for a moment or two I was distracted while I frantically waved my hands for him to stop. I remembered just in time to look down again. Nothing very spectacular, but nice to have seen nonetheless.