Bonus Snorkeling Day at Concha y Perla
low tide at 9:45am ... got to Perla around 10:15 ... yep, tide was out ...
today i brought my own fins and booties so i would be able to walk across the rocks ... perfect ....
in the shallows right where i sat to put my fins back on was another one of these wonderful Cushion Sea Stars ... take a close look at the tips of it's 'arms' ... it has tiny zippers !!!!!!!!!! :) ...
lots of Marine Iguanas swimming again today ... this one took a break right in front of my nose ....
this is a Galapagos PufferFish, like the one i saw diving that came right up to me ... maybe because we were much deeper ....but i didn't notice those wicked orange eyes that day ....and they seemed to rotate to watch me ....
he has 2 horns on his nose, he looks mean ....
ok, so now i see that Christmas Tree Worms also come in 'stripes' ...
these Black Long Spined Sea Urchins are just plain nasty .... when you see them in the water, they are waving their long spines around, just trying to sting you :( ....
here is a collection of Yellow Tailed DamselFish, White Tailed DamselFish, and a Rainbow Wrasse, and a Chameleon Wrasse in the White Phase with the black spot ....
my little friend the Balloon Fish .... i'm beginning to know these fish personally and where they live :) ....
i'm identifying these as Black Striped Salema or sometimes called Brown Striped Snapper ... swim in polarized schools ... 4-6" ..
this guy isn't very colorful ... but had nice markings and was fleshy ... and i like to make up people-postures out of him .... like this is a person throwing a baseball :) ...
i put my hood on ... but i was still getting cold ... so i crawled on the reef, even took my booties off, and warmed up .... i was ready to call it quits for the day .... got back in the water ...
then, .... finally !!!!!! ... i found my Orange Chocolate Chip Cushion Star ! ....
and the other one too ! :)
aren't they pretty ? ...
so now i'm headed in ... when .... OMG ... there is a Spotted Eagle Ray ...
i LOVE these guys ... coz they actually have cute little faces .... unlike the other Rays that don't even have a 'head' ..... they look like little ducks ...
i spent the next 30+min just following him around ....
he didn't seem to mind ...
diving down and swimming along side him .... you can see his eye ....
he was feeding as he was swimming along the bottom .... you can see his mouth open in this photo ....
when he was doing this, his mouth flattened out .... looked like a platypus ...
otherwise it's pointy ... like this ...
at least, that's the way it looked to me ...
here he was actually moving the rocks around and away from whatever he wanted to get at under them .... putting up a cloud of sand in the process ....
my camera battery was flashing red, so i was ONLY able to take about 40 photos :) ...turning the camera off in between shots in hopes of recharging the battery ....
i hated to leave, he was still feeding and swimming around when i decided it was time to go in ... so now i AM going in ... when i ran into 2 turtles ....
now i'm REALLY going in ... when a Sea Lion finally wanted to play with me .... i still had some battery left and got some cute video. but couldn't get any photos because he was so close to me. .. they are just so comical .... doing silly manuevers in the water, and then watching to see if you can do them too .... then i'd do something, and he would copy me .... so entertaining .... then he was gone just as quickly as he showed up ....
now i REALLY could go in .... it was 1pm ! ...
came home, cleaned up, then went to the store .... i wanted to make some pasta ... and i found some shrimp. yummmm
the sunset high in the sky behind a large bank of clouds .... looks like the moon ....
then i sauted myself garlic, onion, and shrimp in olive oil, and had pasta with fresh broccoli. i have leftovers :) ....
i finally found out what they are celebrating over the next couple of days. ....this is the 44th yr celebration of what i think is when they formed their own 'colony' on the island of Isabela. it doesn't have to do with the rest of the islands, just here ....there is a VolleyBall Tournament, crowning of Miss Isabela, a Rodeo in the Highland (i won't be going to another one of those!) ... and Sat, a dance with live music ... maybe i can go to that :) ...if i can stay up that late :(
a girl that is here from Germany asked about horseback riding in the Highlands .... long story short ... she is going on a horseback ride tomorrow, and i am going along and experience the Highlands on Isabela ...
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