I was resting on the surface between dives when I was
startled by a yellow flash in my peripheral vision. It was close to my mask and
bright, taxi-cab yellow. I thought it was the sun reflecting off the yellow
housing of the strobe attached to my camera and ignored it. I was freediving
around one of the large rocks at Los Arcos south of Puerto Vallarta,
exploring a series of ledges that stair-stepped down the wall. As I descended
on my next dive, a yellow spot appeared in front of my mask. It was a small
fish less than 5 cm (2 in) long, and it was leading me to the bottom.