Waterspout

I've seen video footage of a waterspout before but never witnessed one, myself, until last week.

A waterspout is a cloud-filled column that rotates, like a tornado, over a body of water. Though it's above the water, the column isn't actually filled with water. And because the wind lacks the force of a tornado, it isn't as dangerous.

Sitting on the beach at Akumal Bay, DW and I were preparing to go back into the water with our snorkel equipment. We wanted to go further out into the bay to see if we could spy any other creatures, other than the sea turtle, stingrays, and tropical fish that were already spotted on previous outings through the week.

A week before we headed to Mexico, DW learned, through the Akumal Bay Facebook group, that someone had spotted a manatee in the water. Though we knew the chances were remote, we still wanted to see what was out there.

As I looked out to determine where we would negotiate the coral reefs, I saw the funnel descending from the storm cloud, a few kilometres to the southeast of us. Where it made contact with the sea, I could see water spraying upward.

Next to it, I could see another funnel, though it hadn't reached the surface of the Caribbean.

And then I saw another, further off.

I didn't think I could capture it with my smartphone, but I pulled it out of its underwater case anyway. Using the telephoto lens, which I zoomed to its maximum magnification, I captured a couple of still images.

I then switched the camera into video mode and captured a few seconds of the column, which showed no signs of abating. Also set to maximum magnification, I apologize for the hand shake. It's not the best quality but it's better than nothing.

DW and I were a bit hesitant to head out but I noted that the clouds were moving southwestward and that clear skies were above us. We certainly weren't heading out as far as the waterspouts.

Did we find the manatee? No. But DW spotted a small shark and there were plenty of colourful coral and fish to enjoy.

Happy Friday!