ANOTHER SNORKEL DAY
as i was falling asleep last night, it occured to me .... my shoulder has not bothered me since i arrived! ... not at all! ...even when i was sanding and painting for Madi, it would tire and let me know i needed a break, but never bothered me other than that. for several months before i left Kzoo, i was on 800mg of Motrin twice a day, and would wake up in excessive pain during the night .... i had pretty much decided i was going to need another surgery when i got home; ... but now ... nothing, ..... and it happened immediately when i got here .... so ... what does that mean? ...it's weather related ????????
another beautiful day ... VERY windy, but clear blue skies. i packed up my snorkel stuff and stoped at WSORC to see if there was a Whale Shark boat today. nada, it's too windy. so i continued down the road to Chepes Beach .... WoW .... there were white-caps even up close to shore ! ... i debated ... but, i'm here, what else am i going to do ...
it wasn't that bad actually. the waves and 'choppy' seas don't bother me
the first fish i saw was the Orange Spotted FileFish. ...and today, in this photo ... i CAN see why it's called 'Orange Spotted' .... ok, they're not really really orange, but ...
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| Orange Spotted FileFish |
these are called "Social" FeatherDusters .... because they are all close together in a group, and being social ?
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| Social FeatherDuster and Sea Fan |
you can tell by the way they are flowing sideways in the next photo, that there was a lot of wave action down here today ...
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| Social FeatherDuster |
i love the color and texture of this coral ... which will remain nameless :(
i saw a Queen AngelFish in the distance (a very difficult subject because they are so shy) ... but something else caught my eye ... it was a Scrawled CowFish !!!!!!! ok, this is my prize for the day ... !!!!!!!!!!!!!
it's called a CowFish because of the little 'horns' it has over it's eyes .... the lighting isn't very good in this photo, but you can see the 'horns' .... and the turquoise coloring was magnificent with the sunlight shining on it
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| Scrawled CowFish |
i haven't seen many of these ... he let me follow him around for a little while, but never letting me get very close ... you can see why it's call 'Scrawled' ... and the color changed depending on how the light fell on it, here it is more blue ...
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| Scrawled CowFish |
and ... as he passed by this dark coral, his color instantly changed to mottled browns to camouflage himself ... this really is an incredible gift they have ....
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| Scrawled CowFish ... with camouflage coloring |
and then he'd had enough of this 'photo shoot' ... and he disappeared ...
i looked and looked for him, but couldn't find him ... i love it when i can see something special/unusual each day :)
i turned my attention elsewhere ...
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| Staghorn Coral |
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| Flamingo Tongues |
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| Flamingo Tongues |
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| Giant Anemone |
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| Sea Anemone |
these two Barred Hamlets were interacting ...
the Barred Hamlets are usually all brown/tan, but the ones i've seen here at Chepes,
that have a lot more blue on them.
and, there is an Indigo Blue Hamlet that is ALL blue ....
... wondering about them, i did a search ... my research found that:
--"There are many types of hamlet, but scientists believe they are all just one species. Each hamlet type can breed with each other, and hybrids with colour patterns intermediate between those of their parents are a relatively common sight on coral reef." ...
--"they have male and female reproductive organs, but cannot self fertilize"
--so, "hamlet pairs take turns as either the male or female so that each hamlet has a chance to release eggs and to fertilize eggs"
--so "each time they spawn they reverse sexual roles"
--"in general, hamlets spawn almost every night, year round" (oceana.org)
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| 2 Barred Hamlets interacting... (possibly courtship phase) |
the markings on the face, and on the pectoral fins hanging down, were absolutely electrifying in the sunlight today ...
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| Barred Hamlet |
i saw 2 Gray AngelFish ... and this French AngelFish following along with them ...
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| French AngelFish |
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| who is looking at who ? |
i saw my Scrawled CowFish again, :) ... briefly :(
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| Scrawled CowFish |
as i was returning to shore, in water only about 18" deep, traveling over the Turtle Grass, i spotted this Flamingo Tongue ... they are usually found on Fan Coral, so i was surprised to see it here in the grass. my research says they are found on 'Gorgonian' corals ... and Fan Coral is a Gorgonian .... this light purple blade that looks like grass could be a Grooved-Blade Sea Whip, which also a Gorgonian coral ... sooooooooo, i learned something else new today :) ...i wish i would have paid more attention to it when i saw it ... maybe i'll find it again another day ...
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| Flamingo Tongue on Groved-Blade Sea Whip ? |
i had planned on going to Thai Friday tonight, and asked Paco if he wanted to join me. he'd been there the last 3 Fridays, so we went to RJs instead. ... i invited him to my apartment before dinner ... he was impressed :)
i had a hamburger!!!!!!! ... it was pretty good considering where i am ... but i don't think i'll have another one until i get home :)
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