One of our favorite dive sites in Cozumel is Colombia Shallows, mainly due to the sheer number of encounters we have had with the sea life in this area. Also, because there is less current, it allows you to drift along slowly, as opposed to being swept past as is the case in some of the other dive sites. Additionally, since it is a shallower dive, it allows you to spend more time in the water. This also increases your chances of seeing something interesting.

On one particular dive, we had one interesting encounter after another. I was using my camera to take both still pictures and some short videos. We were diving with Dive Paradise, and we also had the dive operator's videographer along with us. Both she and I got some nice footage from different angles.

At the beginning of the dive, we came across a large Black Grouper swimming around the reef. It didn't seem to concerned about us at first, but we were a fairly good sized group, maybe ten to twelve divers, and it seemed that eventually it had enough of us. It started to swim off, not quickly, just sort of moseying away. What was interesting, and a little comical, was what the grouper did as it swam off.

If you watch the video, you can probably see that it was a pretty good sized fish. When we first came upon it, it was a dark, mottled color - sort of a light gray with black splotches. As the grouper seemed to get more bothered by our presence, however, its color began to change. The black spots began to slowly fade, until it was basically a light gray color with just some black tips on its fins.

What is funny about this incident, though is not the color change. If you keep a close watch on the video, you will notice a school of fish off behind the grouper. If you'll notice, they are also light gray with black-tipped fins. It's almost as if the grouper is trying to blend in! It's as if it's trying to say, "Nope, I'm nothing special. Look at me, just one of the crowd." Even though it's about 50 times bigger than every other fish in that school!

Was it intentional camouflage, or just a coincidence caused by camera angle? I don't know, but it sure makes for some fun footage, and another memorable encounter at Colombia Shallows.