AN OCTOPUS, 3 SHRIMPS, a GIANT ANEMONE, AND A KING HELMET CONCH
i don't know what happened .... but while i wasn't looking, i was being eaten by some 'blood-thirsty f.....ing" insect ... right here in my own home !!!!! ... right before my eyes, bites appeared ... i've been sitting at the computer, with my hands on the keyboard ... how cold have this happened without me knowing it ... ?
enough whining, but what a way to start my day :(
it's less windy today, so i packed and walked to EcoMarine and rented my weight belt again; and saw a sign that BICA (where i volunteered, and is closed) is having a benefit there on Sunday to raise money ... starts at 3:30 ... something to do !!!!!! :)
i walked to Chepes and looked at the water ... it doesn't look less windy down here!! ... i debated again ... took some photos ... you can see the mountains on the mainland of Honduras today across the sea ... and you can see it's a bit choppy out there ...
... i decided to quit being such a 'woosie' and get in the water !
i snorkeled quite a way towards Coral View where i was yesterday, seeing the usual suspects.... always looking for something different, and found a few things ...
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| this is not a snake, but a type of Garden Eel, and i can't identify it |
... a TigerTail Sea Cucumber ...looks like one too ... but if you disturb it, it immediately shrivels up ... kinda gross ... i didn't do it today, but i've seen it done...
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| TigerTail Sea Cucumber |
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| Neon Goby - 1+" long |
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| Donkey Dung Sea Cucumber ... really! |
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| Feather Duster ... another worm that withdraws into it's tube when disturbed |
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| RedLip Blenny |
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| RedLip Blenny in a nice Star Coral |
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| RedLip Blenny ... with a Gray variation |
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| Caption: 'but it looks like a long way down!' |
it was getting even more choppy and i decided to head back in .... i stopped in the shallow water and spent some time with these little fishes ....
fish identification becomes very difficult because they go through so many stages in their development and can change drastically from one to the next ... this is a Blue Tang, Juvenile ... totally yellow, and when it grows it will become totally blue ! ...
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| Blue Tang - Juvenile |
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| Blue Tang - Juvenile |
this is another fish that is difficult to identify correctly ... it's a DamselFish ... and i'm going with a LongFin DamselFish ...because the dorsal and anal fins extend beyond the base of the tail .... and i'm quite proud of this photo, because they move very quickly :)
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| LongFin DamselFish - Juvenile |
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| Social FeatherDuster -- worms inside tubes |
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| Social FeatherDuster - worms inside tubes |
i saw a coral head with a Giant Anemone and decided to take a photo, and noticed there were a couple little bright red shrimp inside it .... this was my find for the day !!!!!!!!
i was busy with my camera and nose right down there close, ....then looked down, and noticed there was something under the coral head kicking out sand. whoa ! ... did i have my face right in a Moral Eel's home ????? i pulled back quickly !!!!!!!! ....and looked more closely, and saw this to the right side of the coral head....
does it look like anything to you ? ...it's the same color as the broken coral pieces ...
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| what do you see here ... sticking out from under the coral head ? |
....my first thought was 'Octopus' !!!!!!!!!!
i saw one several years ago at Roatan... briefly... for about 1 second as it slid it's last 'arm' into the smallest of holes in a piece of coral .... i've been wanting to see one ever since ! ...
he obviously wasn't happy where he was, and started coming out from from under the coral head ... now i was sure it was an Octopus !!!!!!!!
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| at this point, i knew it was an Octopus ! |
he was perfectly safe in there ... why did he want to leave?
.... he started crawling up the side of the coral ...
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...and then it took off .... was it going to attack me ?
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.... it was swimming, floating around the coral head... and away from me :)
... i couldn't believe what i was seeing .... it was fully extended, and in the light, turned a beautiful light turquoise color .... !!!!!!!
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.... and came right around to the other side of the coral head ... he was probably 18" across ....
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...and slid down the side, obviously just where he wanted to be ... this is the exact color it was !
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| look at the 3 little red shrimps peeking their heads out, wondering what was going on .... |
WoW ... that was exciting !
... Octopus are nocturnal, and almost never seen during the day time ... they are considered to be very intelligent, maze and problem-solving experiments have shown evidence of a memory system that can store both short- and long-term memory.
.... so what was going on here?
i looked back at the other side, where he came from, and saw the possible issue ... there was a King Helmet Conch under there with him. .... i think it was the Conch that i saw pushing the sand out, right under where the anemone was .... and he probably couldn't get out on that side, and maybe there wasn't room for both of them .... and the Conch wanted out and the Octopus was in his way ????? ... i'm speculating ...
more on Octopus ...
--octopus have three hearts, ....two pump blood through each of the two gills, while the third pumps blood through the body.
--octopus can lose an arm to escape a predator's grasp and re-grow it later with no permanent damage
--sadly, reproduction is a cause of death: males can only live for a few months after mating, and females die shortly after their eggs hatch. ...they neglect to eat during the (roughly) one-month period spent taking care of their unhatched eggs, eventually dying of starvation. In a scientific experiment, removal of both optic glands after spawning was found to result in cessation of broodiness, resumption of feeding, increased growth, and greatly extended lifespans.
whatever the reason for the Octopus moving ... the King Helmet Conch was leaving too ... for good ...he headed out through the Turtle Grass and never looked back .
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| King Helmet Conch, leaving the coral head |
They have an interesting way of feeding on sea urchins. They slowly creep up to their prey, raise the heavy shell high, then quickly drop the shell so that the urchin is completely covered. Sea Urchin spines contain a poison, so the Helmet Conch releases a paralytic enzyme from its salivary gland, then it secretes sulphuric acid which dissolves the sea urchin shell in about 10 minutes after which it can then eat the contents of the Urchin.
they are beautiful ... but brutal !
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| King Helmet Conch, moving surprisingly fast through the Turtle Grass |
when i left, the Octopus was happily tucked back under the coral .... was he as bewildered as i was at what just happened ?
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| little shrimps are still there ... |
i really hated to leave, but i think that was it for the Octopus for today ...
several new 'finds' in one day !
as i was putting my stuff in my bag ... this dropped out ...
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| Reticulated BrittleStar Fish |
it's a Reticulated BrittleStar Fish .... a very very tiny one. he must have gotten caught in my bootie as i was getting out of the water .... i put him back in the water, and he started moving ... they can regrow their arms, so i'm sure he will be fine :)
you may have noticed that i am watching a lot of movies.... the guy that runs the theater is trying to show all of the movies that are up for an Academy Award .... this is really something new for me ... i rarely go to the movies, and never see a film before the Awards are announced ...
tonight's movie was Nebraska, up for Best Picture ....with Bruce Dern, who is up for Best Actor ... very slow moving, black and white, kinda boring, but it was funny in parts, kinda cute, and actually very true to life these days ....
so far ... i've not been too impressed with the nominations .... i guess i'm just a 'light-hearted' movie watcher ... and light-hearted movies don't get nominated :(
oh ... Paco and Tulum showed up at the theater ... they are leaving on Fri ... :(
what a day !
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