The Keeper of the Reef first presents a grin. An
undesirable greeting that lets his visitors know the task of winning him
over won’t be easy. He sits on the blue porch soaking in the
fading sun after a long hard day of sailing the sea. He could be people
watching or trying to sell his business to the many tourists who pass by.
Instead he sits there silently. It’s possible the Keeper is still lost in the underwater
world he emerged from. His reputation on this strip of land is
unwanted by locals. Famous to the few tourists who find him, as the 73 year old guide who can show
them the sea. Take it or leave he says, be here at 9:45am to collect your
fins and snorkel. Don’t be late. He doesn't ask for your foot size or sometimes
even your name. He tells you to bring a lunch. If you ask what you’ll see
below he refuses to say, it’s a surprise. There are those who would be put off
by this, he doesn’t give a damn. There are those who decide to go willingly
with him, these people are the lucky ones.
He dives in. The bubbles clear and the fish surround him. They swim close to him, like passengers along for
the ride. A string ray sweeps its way forward as if understanding how humans admire its powerful array. Its wings spread out like a
blanket, breathing in with an opening and closing valve. The Keeper takes his wondering
friend and places the string ray on his head. The creature warmly invites him in, smiling beneath pounds of white flab. The Keeper's bronze Belizean
skin is richly lit among the Caribbean sea. His body moves through the water, the weight
of his pot belly and sagging nipples do not direr from this seamless motion. He
is a man who can break through any wave and has passed the many tests of a
sometimes unforgiving sea.
The current drives him on. Through passages of coral,
beyond forests of mangroves and over sea turtles gazing the flourishing world. Deeper he dives luring eccentric green eels with a shell. They swim in a
swirl together, battling the fish for the taste of what drives their senses mad.
In the distance, he spots the dark shadow of a shark escaping from the
foreigner's view. He has known these creatures for many years and it took time
for these creatures to know him just as well. When he was nine he swam so far away from the shore. The
cruel words of his father fading as he made his trail. He found himself in the
reach of the reef and since then he has continued to return. It was the
fishermen who told him to pay attention and the students’ scientific observations who
brought these creatures' names to life. Once upon time he could find himself alone in these
waters until tourism came flooding in. Fat cruise ships dropping off herds
of North Americans, Europeans and East-Asians led by monsters who smoke
cigarettes and dump 'em in the sea, “The fish will put it out.” He tried to warn the capitalists to take care of the Ocean but the
dollar sign outweighed the value of the Earth. The islanders think
he’s a strange creature himself, the crazy man who has a theory, “Don’t go into
the ocean thinking about which fish will taste good to eat,” he warns, "It's bad karma." The Keeper’s best known friend is a Turtle named Irene. She’s missing a leg and swims rather odd, a fighter he’s known for twenty years.
He
has witnessed the changes in the ocean, watching it slowly die before his very
eyes. He does not know the cause or the outside factors but he believes humans
have not done a thing. He thinks we cannot stop it and that we can only start
taking better care. But first people need to listen. "We are all connected to
the Ocean," he claims, "The 13 spots on a turtles shell is the same number of full moons a
year." For those who are willing, he can help them discover the way. Those who
are willing must first suppress all negative thoughts, detach from their bodies, and then let the sea take control.
The Keeper of the Reef, he would never call himself that.
The Keeper of the Reef, a title no other man in the Caye deserves.
