13 Mar, Thurs

WEST BAY - DAY 2

this morning, Tony, Coltin and i met Giaco, the RMP Director, who just returned from a workshop teaching Guatemalan fishermen the importance of sustainable fishing, with a strong emphasis in shark fishing/overfishing, as it is the number one income for many coastal communities. ... he said it was a very positive workshop and he showed us part of his presentation, ... he is a very dynamic person! ...and he bought us Smoothies to start the day :)

then we left with Oscar again for our second day at West Bay. Tony would walk the beach and Coltin and i would be snorkeling :) ...
there were only 5,000 cruise people today, and it was obvious ... at first there weren't many snorkelers in the water..... Coltin and i snorkeled around and watched a few people who were doing good .... at one point there wasn't anyone to watch, .... except the fishes :)

the Rainbow ParrotFish is one of the largest Parrotfishes ...

Rainbow ParrotFish

they are very colorful ...and don't look like any other ParrotFish ...

Rainbow ParrotFish

and the Blue ParrotFish is quite large as well ...

Blue ParrotFish

and all blue ...

Blue ParrotFish

in Utila i saw a lot of RedTail ParrotFish ... this is a YellowTail ParrotFish ...

YellowTail ParrotFish

i've talked about the ParrotFish providing the sand for the beaches by pooping ... this is the YellowTail ParrotFish pooping ... (the lighting makes it look pink)...


YellowTail ParrotFish 'pooping'

we headed out over a large sand patch and saw this 'squadron' of small Caribbean Reef Squid ....

'Squadron' of Caribbean Reef Squid

i'd seen this a couple years ago ... in this exact same location ...

Caribbean Reef Squid

this is pretty special !

Caribbean Reef Squid

once we got over the sand patch, we were in deep water..... i saw a turtle ... waayyy down there happily eating ...

shortly after that, lots of snorkelers entered the water ... ...and, i found out that, it's not as easy task as i expected ... it's a bit tricky to have your head OUT of the water looking for people, ... and at the same time, have our head IN the water, watching where you are going, so you don't risk running into the coral reef yourself ! ...it's also a bit difficult to talk to people with a snorkel in your mouth :)

many 'beginner' snorkelers ... with lots of splashing and flailing of arms ... and rather than positioning themselves horizontally in the water, they were vertical, almost guaranteeing that they would kick the coral .... and yes, i saw my first 'offender' ... a young boy, ... and, even though i know it happens .... i was still horrified ... he was standing on this brain coral ... and by the looks of it, he wasn't the first person to stand on it :(

Brain Coral Damaged from Humans Standing on it :(

and this girl ...

...another one :(

i enjoy doing this ... and hope to be able to do it again ...

back in West End, i decided to do a little more snorkeling in Half Moon Bay ... i spent a lot of time seeing the 'usual suspects' ... except this was a nice big HogFish ...

HogFish

and this very large dead lobster body .... :(

Shell of Caribbean Spiny Lobster

size comparison

i was heading in when i saw this French AngelFish ... he was very timid at first, darting in and out of the rocks ... but i floated quietly for a long time, and he finally got used to me ...

French AngelFish

the Juveniles are all black with bright yellow stripes ...

French AngelFish Juvenile

when they mature, they loose their yellow stripes, and the scales on their bodies become bright yellow ..

French AngelFish

i was interested in this fish because it was in-between a Juvenile and an Adult ...still has it's yellow stripes, but also has the yellow scales ... :)

French AngelFish

then this SharpTail Eel caught my eye, ... his head was in a hole, looking for dinner, and his body was flailing in the air....

SharpTail Eel

i followed him around for awhile ...

SharpTail Eel

i've seen this eel before, but never noticed the beautiful blue edging on the dorsal fin ... maybe it was the late afternoon lighting .. but it was really pretty ...