AMAZING SNORKEL AGAIN
another hot one today ... i spent more time looking for a place to stay in Roatan .... and connected w/a girl that i might be able to share a place with.
i also thought about what i could do since i won't be going on any more Whale Shark boats .... :( .... i sent an email to a girl that i worked with at BICA, and asked if there was anything i could do for her. she now works for CORAL, (they unite communities to protect our planet's coral reefs).
then i decided i would start doing Fish Surveys for REEF, an organization based in Florida that collects data from divers and snorkelers. i spent some time going over the program, so i will know what to look for
so.... i have a purpose for my snorkeling ... it was almost 1:30 by the time i left here. i walked to the other end of the island today. i went past Bundo Beach and to a place where i went last year. .... some very nice people let me leave my bag at their place while i snorkeled last year, .. and they were accommodating this year too... here are a couple photos of their amazing place !
i found this Spotted GoatFish in the shallows... named because it has a 'beard' hanging down from it's chin ... but you can't see it in this photo ... :(
on the way out to the reef, i saw a Smooth TrunkFish and it lead me on a wild-goose chase through the Coral
i wasn't paying attention and got myself caught on top of the coral where the waves were breaking .... i got a little coral scrape on my wrist before i got out of there. it kind of 'burned' and i kept looking at it to see if it was bleeding, but it was not; ... but it was really 'burning' ... i think the coral i brushed against was FireCoral .... and it's called that for a reason :) it burned for an hour or so, and then it wasn't so bad.
for the Fish Survey, i need to identify the fish and estimate their numbers ..... so i decided to 'point and shoot' whatever i see ... and use the photos as notes for my report, .... hoping i can identify it when i get home. ....this sounded like a good idea, but in actuality, the fish are too far away, or moving too fast ... i can't even FIND the fish in the photo :(
i saw the usual suspects, plus a few of the more unusual ones ...
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| French AngelFish |
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| Scrawled FileFish |
i saw my first Queen ParrotFish of the year ....
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| Queen ParrotFish |
and also saw the Initial Phase of the Queen ParrotFish, which i have never noticed before ...probably because it isn't 'pretty' :)
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| Queen ParrotFish - Initial Phase |
--at night they secrete a mucus, forming a protective cocoon that envelops the fish, presumably hiding its scent from potential predators
--almost all start as females (known as the initial phase) and then change to males (the terminal phase)
here are 3 different Spanish Hogfish ... all are a little different coloring ...
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| Spanish HogFish |
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| Spanish HogFish |
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| Spanish HogFish |
i observed the behavior of these 2 French Grunts ... they faced off ..
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| 2 French Grunts ... doing what? |
then backed off, and charged again ... look at the red inside of the mouth !
... the Blue Striped Grunts watching, may have been referees :)
i was heading back in and spotted this tiny baby Spotted TrunkFish, that was no bigger than my thumb nail ...
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| Spotted TrunkFish - Juvenile |
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| Spotted TrunkFish - Juvenile |
and for some reason, ...i looked to my right !!!!!!!!! ...and there it was ....
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| Spotted Eagle Ray |
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| Spotted Eagle Ray |
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| Spotted EagleRay |
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| Spotted Eagle Ray |
.... wing span of about 6' ... i cannot believe my luck lately !
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| Spotted Eagle Ray |
i don't usually show photos of what it is like to 'fly' above the reef with the white sand below ... so here is one from today ... it's so relaxing ... flying without the fear of falling :)
as i was going through my photos, i noticed this rather large bright red fish .... it was in every photo i took of that tiny little fish ! ... how could have i not seen it? ... talk about tunnel vision ! ...i saw one of these 4yrs ago, but have never seen one since ...
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| GlassEye Snapper |
with all that, i could head in ...
once in the shallows, there were almost 100 of these ParrotFish, that i still have not identified ...
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| RedTail ParrotFish - Initial Phase |
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| RedTail ParrotFish - Terminal Phase |
Blue Jasmine was the movie of the night ... another 'strange' movie, with an ending that left you hanging ... typical of a Woody Allen movie ?
another great day !
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