3 Feb, Mon - Part 1

AN EPIC DAY !!!!!!!  -  Part 1

Dayna and Jamon left early this morning.    i am sad to have them leave, they would have enjoyed our trip today.

 

What an 'EPIC' day ... i think that's how the 'younger generation' would classify it !
it was so epic, that i'm doing it in 2 parts....

Captain Wilbur, Madi's brother, took Andrew, Jim, Elena and myself on a Snorkel trip to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley, both are just inside the reef over by Ambergris Caye.    i've been here many times before, and i'm always impressed at the marine life that can be seen.

so, FINALLY, i have some clear underwater photos to share.

Scrawled FileFish

Scrawled FileFish

Green Turtle

Pompano aka Permit

Black Grouper

French Angelfish

Green Moray Eel

Mutton Snapper (with black spot on side)

Blue Stripped Grunt schooling over Coral

Rainbow ParrotFish

this is a Hog Fish, ..... it has pretty mottled browns and oranges as it passed over grasses ...

changed colors immediately upon entering a white sandy bottom ...

nature is awesome, isn't it ?

Anemone

Christmas Tree Worm   (if you get near it, it retreats into it's shell, and eventually emerges again)

after snorkeling the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, we headed to another spot where the local fishermen clean their conch.   this is a huge area that is piled with empty conch shells .... as far as you can see .... a conch shell grave yard.   because there is typically some left over food inside the shell, it has become a known source of 'free' food for some of the Marine Life.   it is unusual to see so many different fishes out in the open, with no cover of coral or rocks.

there is an old one-eyed turtle that hangs out there.    he has been feed so often that whenever someone touches him, he lunges at them, thinking he will be fed.   Wilbur warned us about this and said that several people had been bitten.    i was very aware of this fact when i saw the turtle coming towards me ... i was trying to get out of the way, when Wilbur put his fin in the way of the turtle and detoured him away from me  ... thank you Wilbur !  :)

there were lots of Southern Stingrays hanging around the area as well ....

but what i liked most was the other unusual, not-often-seen, fishes that were there ... all looking for food ...

3 different kinds of TrunkFish ... named such because of their unusual shape.   it's rather triangular ... and flat on the bottom ... i guess someone thought it looked like a old-fashioned suitcase shape ...

Spotted TrunkFish

(just) TrunkFish

Smooth TrunkFish

there was a Porcupine Fish there with one eye also ... maybe this is the Disability Feeding Center  :)

also, this little fish called a Rock Beauty, ...it's only about 4" long.    they are usually very elusive, taking quick retreat into some coral, and difficult to photograph ... but this time i got lucky.... so i'm pretty happy with this pic :)

from here we went just a short distance to Shark Ray Alley.   here there are usually LOTS of Stingrays and Nurse Sharks.    the Tour Operators used to feed them; but it's been decided that this practice should be discontinued, since it is considered to be 'harassing'.    so, there were still a few around, but not like i remember it a couple of years ago. 

Nurse Sharks

Nurse Sharks

Nurse Sharks

there were also a few Blue Tangs feeding on the sandy bottom.   i love these guys because of their beautiful blue color, and it looks like they have a HUGE smile on their faces ....

Blue Tang (with a smile)

Blue Tang

there were also LOTS of Glass-Eye Jacks schooling under the boat.  

as we were leaving, Wilbur spotted some dolphins not too far from us.    he noticed that one dolphin had caught one of the Jacks and was carrying it around in it's mouth.    there were actually 2 of them and they kept passing the fish back and forth between them.   several times they jumped straight up out of the water and gave us a
Sea World show.   that was very cool!  we spent the next 30min circling, trying to get close enough to them so Elena and i could get in the water with them.    we did get to see one briefly while snorkeling, and i got a short video ....

Wilbur was pretty excited about this, he said he had never seen one with a fish in it's mouth before  ... our lucky day  :)

Part 2 continues the EPIC DAY !