it wasn't as windy today, so i thought i'd try snorkeling the eastern end of the island ... after i walked all the way there, i realized it was still pretty windy and the surf was bigger than i was hoping for .... but i got in for awhile ....
the Blue Tangs were out cruizing ...
and there were Queen ParrotFish here ... the ones before have all been StopLight ParrotFish ...
a whole 'field' of Sea Fans ...
a party of Sergeant Majors frolicking ...
as well as these small Gobys ...
a couple DoctorFish on the way in ...
so that didn't last long ... i got out and decided i'd try the opposite end of the island, it might be calmer there .... it's probably a 40min walk... you can see on this map. Bango Beach is on the bottom right corner ... and Chepas Beach is on the bottom left corner.
... but i got a ride half way there from JJ, who graciously allows me to snorkel from his property.
a couple days ago, Laurie and i were at ReHab ... that's a restaurant/bar (cute name, huh?), right on the water by Chepas Beach. ...this barge floats in with a crane and clawed-bucket on it; and starts dipping the bucket in the water, over and over ... we couldn't tell what they were doing, it didn't look like they were digging anything up. they kept going toward shore, and there was a snorkeler out there ... he must be deaf because he should have been able to hear the thing ... but he was a more intense snorkeler than me, he just kept on snorkeling ... and the barge just kept on getting closer and closer to him ..... it was rather intense for awhile, when the barge finally stopped advancing...
you can see the guy's head, and his little snorkel, this side of the barge in the photo ... bottom right corner...
a guy at the bar said they were going to build a dock way out into the water and also haul in tons of sand to replenish the beach ... for Semana Santa ... that's Easter week, 4 weeks away, ...i can't imagine getting a project like that done in a couple of weeks ... in Honduras !
my main concern was for the reef ... that's where i've been snorkeling, a lot, and it looked like they were right over the coral ... then .... they started picking up these HUGE old cement pillars and dropping them one by one into the water ... right on top of the coral ... there isn't a lot of coral in that area; but there is some, and it is struggling to grow and establish itself ... i was horrified ! ....oh, and the Mayor was out there in his boat ....
when i got home i sent an email to Pamela (that i am helping out), along with the photo, asking her if she knew what was going on ... she thanked me and said she would let me know what she found out
so today i thought it would be a good idea to get in the water and see what they had done .... here are some photos of the 'stuff' they dropped ....
not so pretty .... but, my fears were unwarranted, ....because they dropped them in the grassy area, and i couldn't find any destroyed coral ... :) ...and in fact, a 'family' of French AngelFish, had claimed one area as their new home.
i also found out that the snorkeler was in the water to show the barge where the coral was so it did NOT drop the pilings on the coral ... all my worry for naught :(
a Juvenile French AngelFish ...
they were actually quite protective of the area, and curious, ,,, and wouldn't leave ... i got some great photos :)
the following were in the grassy are close to where the pilings were dropped ...
Grooved-Blade Sea Whip .. pretty purple color ....
another Sea Urchin skeleton ...
moving along towards the reef, i saw other fishes too :)
Scrawled FileFish ...
these are Hamlets ... there is a Barred Hamlet, which is brown, ....and an Indigo Hamlet, which is VERY 'blue' ... i did some research on this a couple years ago ... it seems these two species are mating, across species lines !!!!!!!!!! ...
the results are beautiful and very striking ... kind of like inter-racial marriages .... do you think we should let the Congress know about this? :) ....
i think this might be a 'younger' YellowHead Wrasse ... it isn't as 'yellow' as most ... or maybe it's the lighting ...
i saw this Thorny Oyster ... that is open just enough to see the brown and white striping .... he's decorated quite nicely too .....
here are some Social FeatherDusters ... in different colors ...
on my way in, i found that same coral where the Octopus was ...again .... and saw this little tiny, 1/2 " Banded Clinging Crab in the Sea Anemone ... never seen one of these before ....
there are so many little tiny creatures if you only take the time to slow down and observe :)
that was a lot of walking and a lot of snorkeling today
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