woke up at 6am so i could go to yoga, and walked outside to the calmest waters possible ... the sea was like glass ... pretty unusual for here ... great for snorkeling, and PERFECT for taking photos without being tossed around by the waves ....if i had a camera :(
we had a nice 'gentle yoga' class ... nothing like what Leslie does at the SLYMCA; but it was nice to stretch in the sun and sand ... and Shavasana (when you get to lay down and take a 'nap' at the end of the class) ....was like this ... peaceful !
i started to fix my peanut butter toast when Jas appeared at my door with breakfast of eggs, sausages, beans, fruit, and a fry jack !!!!!! ....how nice was that !
i grabbed my gear and headed out for my morning snorkel .... i went over to the west side of the island where we came in the other day with the strong current. although the waters were calm, there was still a bit of a current in places .... but it was a beautiful coral garden that had one coral patch after another ... i went way out... it was perfect ... i saw a TrumpetFish and 2 Scrawled FileFish which i hadn't seen here yet ... and felt helpless without a camera :( ...but i still enjoyed it so much ! ...maybe i even get to experience the snorkel more without a camera, because i only have to enjoy it :)
i saw the Dive Boats arriving as i was snorkeling and headed back to see if Darrel was there with my 2 bags. ..... he walked off the dock 'empty-handed' ... i was sure he was just joking with me; but he said there was nothing left on the boat :( ...someone must have picked them up by mistake, and he would try to find the people who were on the boat and ask them when he got back to San Pedro ... i was bummed ... i was so sure he would have found it ....
they left, i was a bit down; and talking with the staff about it ... they wondered if i had left it in the first building that i was going to stay in ... i checked, but no luck. then i started thinking about 'rooms' ... and the fact that i had TWO bedrooms, and that i had started to unpack in the one room, and then moved to the other room ... when i got back to my place, i checked the other room .... YES, the 2 bags were there, covered up by pillows !!!!!!!!!!
obviously i was excited that i had them; but so embarrassed (and concerned) that i didn't remember unpacking them and hiding them under some pillows :( ...i had to go around and tell everyone ... and tried to send an email to Darrel to let him know. ...it isn't easy being 'me' :(
then ... i changed batteries in my camera and RAN for the water, ... to a snorkel spot out front (where it's usually pretty choppy) called Octopus Garden ... today it was like a bathtub ... :)
i was snorkeling, the sun was hot, the water calm, and ....i had my camera, ... i was in heaven .... i looked for Octopus, but didn't see any ... but i did see this Moon JellyFish .... it is so pretty ....totally transparent ...
it was floating at the surface ...
and has a pretty little 4-leaf clover design in the middle ...
and it was just pulsating and slowly propelling itself through the water....
i was even able to upload a video ... enjoy ...
i didn't want to leave the peacefulness of the Moon Jelly, ....but i did ... :(
i saw this little Juvenile French AngelFish ....
this is the next phase of it's development ....it hasn't quite lost it's yellow stripe yet ...
i was REALLY excited to see this HoneyComb CowFish ... named for the little 'horns' on the top of it's head ...
and he changed from blue to green depending upon the way the sunlight reflected ..
as i was following the CowFish, i looked down and saw this large Southern Stingray laying half covered in the sand ...
i love these purple-pink tipped anemones ...
i haven't seen many of these Flamingo Tongues ... but saw several today :)
i saw this Ocean TriggerFish and started following him ...
he was heading west .... after awhile i decided to just continue in that direction and go back where i was in the morning that was so pretty ...
Elkhorn Coral close to the surface
a juvenile Blue Tang, with the sunlight creating rainbows
a Blue Head Wrasse
a tiny juvenile YellowTail DamselFish .... at this point it's tail is transparent .......it's about 1/2 inch in size ...
beautiful corals here !!!!!!!
i have a lot of 'favorite' fishes, but i truly think this is THE most beautiful fish in the the Caribbean ... a Queen TriggerFish ...and i love the way the sunlight is reflecting the colors ...
the markings on the face are dramatic ... such wonderful 'eye makeup' :)
the yellow and black stripped fish are Sergeant Majors ... the 'Blue' one is the male and fiercely protects the eggs ... also a red Squirrel Fish
this Juvenile SpotFin ButterFly Fish ... hasn't developed his 'spot' yet
the TrunkFish, is one of my favorite fishes and difficult to get close to. the strangest, coolest, thing happened to me this afternoon..... all of a sudden this TrunkFish came right up against the side of my face .. scared the shit out of me momentarily. i tried to back away and take a photo, but he hung there for awhile and then swam a short distance away, and then came back and did it again ! .... as he swam away the last time .... i could understand what was happening. he had a Remora attached to his underside, and he was trying to get the Remora off of him, and on to me! ...they are annoying to the fish, turtles, and sharks they cling to; but aren't harmful. they sometimes eat any parasites off the fish, or hope to catch bits of food when their 'host' eats ... they do cling to humans sometimes too ... so glad that it didn't get on me ... :( ...that was a very cool 'encounter' with a fish :)
so that fish is a TrunkFish .... it has a couple of 'cousins' ...
...the Smooth TrunkFish, again with sunlight reflecting color on it's body ...
and the Spotted TrunkFish ..., who was very much a 'poser' for lots of photos.... professional model i am sure :)
i don't see as many ParrotFish here as i do when snorkeling in Utila and Roatan ....
Batwing Coral Crab .... he was busy eating something
that was a 2.5 hr snorkel ....
when i got back to my room i saw Pablo and he said he was taking the group on a Night Snorkel tonight... i asked him if i could join in ... he said yes !!!! Yipppeee :)
i took a shower and quick fixed something to eat, and met them at 6pm :)
back in the water again at Octopus Garden... it was just Pablo, Jill and I doing the Night Snorkel ... we each had lights and just started cruising around to see what we could see ... hopefully an Octopus, huh?
we saw 2 weird 'creatures' that i'd never seen, nor heard of before ... this one was transparent, and had tentacles sticking out .... kinda eerie :(
i found it in the book ... it is a Beaded Sea Cucumber
this is the other ... a Warty SideGill Slug .... :(
and yes, we finally saw an Octopus ...
it hung around for a short while ...
then 'flew' away ...
on the way in, in the grass, i saw this anemone ...
they invited me to have dinner with them tonight, but i needed to get everything rinsed and cleaned up, (it takes me a long time); ....and after 6+ hrs of snorkeling today ... i was pretty tired ...
when i got into bed i look at the bottoms of my feet ..... they have become really calloused, but after being in the water that much .. they were kinda scary looking ... i might have overdone it today :)
naaaaaaa :)
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