The Last Stand of the Bulbometopon

For the last two days we have been diving at Wake Atoll, one of the last major stomping grounds of the Bumphead Parrotfish (Bulbometopon). This fish is supposed to be found everywhere from the Red Sea and the east coast of Africa to the Line Islands, Samoa Islands and the Great Barrier Reef. However it is becoming increasingly rare due to its tastiness on the dinner plate. It will not be found on menus in the US but in places like Guam and Samoa, it is possible to see it in the back of pick up trucks on its way to someone's kitchen. It is the largest of the parrotfish, so named because the front teeth fuse to form something that looks like a beak. If you can imagine running into a fish with a beak that bites through coral, that is swift and agile like smaller fish, up to 5 feet in length, and with a large rhinoceros-like bump on its head, you can see that you would be somewhat in shock and wondering if you should get out of the water. Although it might have a reason to hold a grudge against humans, it is not a threat to divers and is actually an amazing sight to behold due to its rarity. On our second dive yesterday, we were graced with a school of over 60 of these celebrities of the sea. We were at 70' in a very strong current, doing our best to hold on, and this school casually passed through, against the current, as if out for a stroll. Quite impressive. So far Wake has been everything that we expected and more.
I hope you are having a wonderful evening eating tasty non-endangered things.
Take care,
Cristi