after doing Beach Patrol last year, i told Christi that i really felt that we needed signs on the beach ... as a way to get the message across to as many people as possible ... i can't talk with everyone, so i thought that signs would help.
i mentioned it to Christi again this year. she said they made signs after i left and put them up, but they have all been stolen :( .... so i suggested we make a few SMALL signs, with sticks, and put them on the beach ...and i mean right on the beach ... where people have to walk around them ... and i would stick them in the sand when i got there, and take them out when i left ... she agreed, and she took action :)
there were no Cruise Ships on Friday or Monday ... 3 volunteers from Coconut Tree Dive Shop came to volunteer, and we spent the morning painting signs .... it was a lot of fun ... and we all liked the results ...
on Tues, we hit the beach with our signs ....
Tues, Wed, and Thurs activities at the beach were the same as last week ... but with the cute signs .... :)
i continue to walk the beach and talk with people, and then get in the water and do my 'snorkel stalking' ...
and manage to take a few photos along the way ....
i found myself out in deeper water and noticed a couple Scrawled FileFish ... there were actually 3 of them! ...i've never seen 3 together before ...the 3rd one is brighter blue and on the right ...
they were slowly cruising over the edge of the reef, and then into deeper water ....and i followed .... diving down, i was able to get a couple photos ....
this photo gives you an idea of how narrow/flat this fish is ... cool looking ...
heading back over the sand patch, these Blue Tangs were schooling ...lots of them ...
it's always fun to find a Smooth TrunkFish ....
and it's cousin, the Spotted TrunkFish ...
one of the days, i looked at the time and realized i needed to get out to meet Ralston from the Marine Park to catch my ride back to West End .... then i spotted this Peacock Flounder ....
i had to stop and take some photos ... as i was watching, he took off over some coral and disappeared on the other side ... when i looked, i couldn't find it ...
can you see it ?
no matter how many times i see the Peacock Flounder, i am always amazed at it's camouflage capabilities ...
what else did i see this week at West Bay ... ?
--this large Bearded FireWorm ... do not touch ... it's called a FIRE worm for a reason ! ....
it is very difficult to get a photo of the Grasby because it is very shy and so quick to fly into a coral ... but for some reason, today they were not so shy ...
i even got a photo of 2 of them together ....
a MidNight ParrotFish .... these guys are big ...
a RedTail ParrotFish
i've never noticed the red stripe on the pectoral fins of this Queen ParrotFish ...
how funny when they give me that 'toothy grin' ...
on Thursday i was hanging out close to shore, trying to decide where we wanted to put some bouys, and 'rope off' and area for 'no snorkeling' ... visibility close to shore is very bad because lots of people are play/swimming/standing there and 'kicking up' the sand ... but i noticed this Spotted ScorpionFish tucked neatly within this Blade Coral ...
he is laying vertically, head down ... do you see it ?
i got a few snorkeler's attention and was able to point it out to them ..... usually after many tries ... it was really hard to see .... another master of disguise ...
i also saw thousands, ok, maybe hundreds, of these small fishes in the shallows ...
it was fun to be in the middle of their school, watching them swim and dart in and out ...
...and change directions in an instant ...
next week is Semana Santa ... Holy Week ... and a HUGE holiday for Latin Americans. .... the islands will be flooded with people from the Mainland ... not only from Honduras, but Guatemala, and El Salvadore. ...we needed to prepare for their arrival ...
after i got back to the Marine Park office, Christi, Nic, and i talked about how we could best protect the reef for next week.
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