25 Feb - Chepes Beach Snorkel

25 Feb - Snorkel at Chepes Beach

i walked to the Cemetery this morning to try to visit Jungle Jim's grave ... he died earlier this year and i miss him greatly.   he was someone i could count on to sit and visit with, ...... a kind and wonderful Texan.   i couldn't find the grave, so walked to The Driftwood Restaurant where i could always find him and got better directions.   then i walked down to Chepes Beach and noticed that the water was like glass ....... gotta get home and get my snorkel gear ...

this was a great snorkel day ..... not only was the water calm; but i saw a several amazing creatures that you don't normally get to see, and especially not get a photo of  :)

there are hundreds of coral heads in this area ..... amazing that i snorkeled right out to the same Brain Coral where i saw the Octopus last year ...   ...photo from last year ....

photo from this year ...   no Octopus this year  :(

these are always easy 'pickins' for a photo .... Sergeant Majors with vertical stripes, and a cleaner goby with horizontal stripes .. and the Blue Head Wrasse in the center ... all over the top of Star Coral ...

Rock Beauty ... not easy to get a photo of these either ...

i get such a kick out of fishes when they look right at you .. wonder what they are thinking.... friend? or foe? ..

Spotted TrunkFish

and this is a baby Spotted TrunkFish  ... taking shelter in the coral ... so cute ... only about 2" long  :)

i was trying to get a photo of this small Queen AngelFish ....

...when something large, green, and moving caught my eye ...

he spent 15min in and around this grouping of coral ..... i kept leaving in search of a warm area of water, and returning, and he was still there ... poking around ...

finally he moved on ...in search of more food  ...

heading over the top of the coral and on his way ...

moving on ..... like a 'ribbon in the wind' ...  so intriguing to watch ... for a total of over 20min ...

normally they are hiding during the day, under some coral and you only see their head and gaping mouth and teeth   :)   ...they usually feed at night, and that is usually when you can see them swimming freely about...   so this was a real treat to be able to observe him for so long during the day....
are they dangerous?   ... like most 'wildlife' ... not if you don't provoke them ...
however, i learned something about them ...
Moray eels' heads are too narrow to create the low pressure most fishes use to swallow prey.  .....so they have a second set of jaws in their throat called pharyngeal jaws, which also possess teeth.   When feeding, morays launch these jaws into the mouth, where they grasp prey and transport it into the throat and digestive system. Moray eels are the only animals that use pharyngeal jaws to actively capture and restrain prey.  ....your educational tid-bit for the day  :)

i posted a video on FaceBook of the Green Moray Eel, and i cannot get it to post here .... but for those of you who are not on FB ... you can find it on the Blog post titled:    

25 Feb - Video of Moray Eel at Chepes Beach

a TigerTail Sea Cucumber .... aptly named i think ...

an Orange Spotted FileFish ... looking skeptical at me ...

i saw a Glass Sye Snapper between a couple of large pieces of coral ..... these guys are usually underneath the coral hiding, and stay there.   ...but this one felt comfortable just hanging out in the 'open' knowing he had protection on both sides of him.    i took 25 pictures of him .... this is why i like to snorkel alone  :)

but i will only bore you with 2 ...  they do have huge 'glassy' eyes ...

i spotted this Scrawled CowFish and started following ... sometimes they just take off; but this guy just continued slowly on his way ..

i love the way they change their coloring depending upon their surroundings; here he has wonderful brown markings added ....good camouflage ...

i really love these Scrawled CowFish ... 

and then there were TWO of them ... i've never seen more than one at a time ...

love his little 'horns' ...

a pair of French AngelFish

and a French AngelFish - Intermediate Phase ....still retaining it's yellow stripes, before they have their full color as above...

a special day of snorkeling  :)


i wasn't going to go to the movie tonight, The Best of Me, because i thought it would be 'gaggy'   :) ... but Laurie said it was really good .... she was right .. great movie !