On Sunday afternoon the Island King and I slipped away from the kids and went over to White Point to spend a little time on the Bay.
I put the GoPro on my head and off we went, to wander the sandbar jutting out from the point.
We were about 75 yards offshore when we spotted something in the water.
A rock? A big shell?
No, it was a small stingray sitting on the bottom.
I got really excited, threw my sunglasses at the Island King and under I went, trying to capture the ray on the GoPro.
Except that the GoPro was pointed straight ahead for my walk and not downward for swimming.
I went under but the commotion scared the ray and off he swam.
I didn't have a mask and was having trouble seeing where he went so I surfaced to look for him and to try and adjust the camera.
But the Island King didn't realize what I was doing so he grabbed me and started pulling me towards the ray.
I was just about to take a breath and go under when he pushed me under - before I'd taken a breath.
The ray was right in front of me and I got a glimpse of him as he swam by.
But then I started running out of air - because I'd gotten none before I went under.
I started trying to surface but the Island King was excited about the ray and thought I was coming up because I couldn't see him.
So he grabbed the back of my head and started pushing me down and towards the ray.
By now I am completely out of air and self preservation kicked in. We were only in about waist deep water so I put my feet down and then managed to throw him off of me and stand up.
The coughing, gasping and sputtering that followed caused him to realize that I wasn't coming up because I couldn't find the ray - I was coming up because I had no air.
I was spitting and sputtering and he was laughing so hard I thought he'd fall over.
He says he didn't think about me not having a snorkel and that he was just trying to get me over to the ray.
Because I was busy trying to breathe I wasn't even sure if I'd gotten the ray on video until I got home and played it back on the computer.
Yes!! I got a quick glimpse of the stingray and video proof that you should be very careful going under the water when the Island King is around.
After I recovered I told him that as I was chasing the ray, Steve Irwin popped into my head.
I've never been scared of stingrays, always cautious not to step on one, but not scared of them in any way.
But when I swam over this one I felt a little tinge of fear.
He looked at me and said "The same thought flashed into my head as I was propelling you over to it and I almost yanked you back"
Notice that he said "almost"
At the end of the day I realized that I have to watch my husband around the water and that my underwater wildlife photography is as bad as my above water attempts.