Best of Mike #265

We had a very nice room, over the water, room.... for our trip to Roatan Honduras. 

I was standing on the porch.... having a conversation with this guy.

When Lydia called to me.... to tell me she was feeling even worse than she had been all day.

Bad enough to go to the hospital.... because she thought she might be having a heart attack.

It was an adventure that we could have lived without.

It was an adventure that included a night in the hospital.... and a ride via air ambulance to Miami.

It was an adventure that had a happy ending.... as it wasn't a problem with her heart.

But it was the adventure that cut this dive trip short.... and pushed any future trips into 2015.

I tell you all of this.... because this is the last pixture that I have to share until we make another trip.

Best of Mike #264

This wee man actually lives in that hole, in the sand.... that you barely see just below his tail.

And he is wee.... a very big one of his species might grow to be almost 4 inches long.

Most of it's life is spent in a relatively small territory.... and often they are seen with only the head and upper section of his body protruding from their den.

Occasionally they hover above their hole.... as you see here.

The Jawfish is very handy with it's mouth.

Using it to carry sand, shells and rocks from one location to another.... as it makes it's home.

It is also a "mouthbrooder".... the male carries the eggs in it's mouth until they hatch. A pixture that I am very much hoping to get in the future.

Best of Mike #263

I really like to scuba dive.... and, you would think that after 700+ dives I would be completely comfortable below the surface.

But that is not the case.

When you are born to breath air and walk on solid ground.... there is always going to be at least a little trepidation as you descend under the sea.

And, when the rocks have eyes.... it only adds to those feelings.

You can see in the top left corner of this pixture the bottom end of the mooring line. So this is right under the boat.... the very beginning of the dive.

You have floated calmly down from the surface to settle on the bottom. You look to the right, as you orient yourself.... and the rock beside you opens it's eyes.

Really its the Flowered Flounder on the top of the rock that opened it's eyes.... but believe me that's not what your brain tells you at the moment that it happens.

When a Flounder is born is has an eye on each side of it's brain.... just like most fish.

But because they hunt by lying camouflaged on the bottom.... it is much more convenient to have both of their eyes on the side that faces up.

So, over the course of the metamorphosis from larval to juvenile.... one eye migrates.

Which side the eye moves to....is dependent of what species type the Flounder is.

Best of Mike #262

The central character in this scene is a.... Brown Banded Feather Duster.

When I see a scene like this.... I think garden.

Then and now, I hear a little bit of the Beatles tune.... Octopuses Garden in my head as I look at it.

Feather Dusters are worms.... still a surprise to me that things yucky on land are so beautiful underwater.

They prefer areas of the reef where there is water movement.

The swaying is often what catches my attention.... and probably the attention of whatever they call food too.

They are most often found in clusters.... like you see here.

But are a shy bunch.... instantly retracting into their tubes if you get too close.

If you are willing to wait, moitionless.... the crowns may slowly extend and reopen.

Best of Mike #261

I am a big fan of the long lens.... and filling the frame with a single subject.

So, anytime I have a pixture of more than one creature.... it is a happy accident.

In this case.... I focused on the Basket Star draped out of the Vase Sponge.

I am a little fascinated by this scene each time I see it. 

In my head this is always a vision of a Zombie creature crawling from the crypt.

While I was working on that shot.

An Arrowcrab walked into the frame.... from the depths of the sponge.

Happy accident!

Best of Mike #260

A Flamingo Tongue is a type of snail.

When it is alive, this snail, has bright orange-yellow and black markings.

The flamingo tongue feeds by browsing on the living tissues of the soft corals on which it lives.

Adult females attach eggs to coral upon which they have recently fed.

After roughly a week and a half, the larvae hatch.

Early in life they float as plankton.... but will eventually settle onto corals.

Juveniles tend to remain on the underside of coral branches.... while adults are far more visible and mobile.

Best of Mike #259

This pixture will give you a pretty good idea of why camouflage is so popular amongst marine species.

It really works.

This is a Shortfin Pipefish.

If you are thinking they look like a straight-bodied seahorse.... you would be right 

They share many characteristics with their seahorse relatives.... including leaving most of the conception and parenting duties to the male.

Their name is derived from the peculiar form of the snout.... which is like a long tube, ending in a narrow and small mouth.

That mouth opens upward and are toothless.

Pipefish are secretive and adept at camouflage.... so they are rarely observed by divers.

Best of Mike #258

It's called a Sea Pearl.... and I feel like I have found pirate treasure every time I see one.

Which is an over the top reaction.... as this is really a form of algae.

Large, thin-walled, round sacs.... dark green in color with a bright reflective sheen.

The largest will grow to a diameter of about 5 cm.

Often they are covered with a thin silvery to light lavender alga.... making them all the more exotic.

Each sac is a single cell organism.... that attaches itself, with fine hair-like runners to a hard object.

They tend to be a solitary creature.... but occasionally you will find them in small groups. Or what I like to think of as major pirate booty.

Best of Mike #257

The next few pixtures that I post.... will be from this year's trip to Roatan.

There are not many of them.... and they may not be my best work.

It usually takes me a few dives to get back in the groove on each trip.... both diving and pixturing.

You usually don't see the pixtures from those early dives.... because they get deleted in favor of the better shots that come later.

But on this trip, we only dove one day because Linda got sick.... and we got to take the air ambulance to Miami.

I can tell you that the air ambulance is a Lear Jet, we were the only passengers.... and it's not nearly as sexy as it sounds.

Whatever she had is gone now.... and might have been gone, even before we even left Roatan.

We know it wasn't the heart attack they had originally feared.

But we still don't know what it was.... so we don't know how it will affect our diving.

Worst case scenario.... we are done and these are the last pixtures that will get posted to this Blog.

Best case and the one we are hoping for.... there will be a pause in the posts, as I don't see us taking another dive trip before next year.

Best of Mike #256

There are a number of different Triggerfish species.

This is a Saragassum Triggerfish.

As a group triggerfish are thought to be pretty aggressive.

But the Saragassum is known as one to least aggressive in their species.

The rather bizarre anatomy of the triggerfish reflects their typical diet of slow-moving, bottom dwelling crustaceans, mollusks, sea urchins and other echinoderms, generally creatures with protective shells and spines. 

Many will also take small fishes and some feed on algae.

They are known to exhibit a level of intelligence that is unusual among fishes.... and have the ability to learn from previous experiences.

Their aggressive protection of their their eggs and nests.... applies to all intruders including scuba divers and snorkelers. 

Best of Mike #255

The Lionfish is native to the Pacific.... but not welcome in the waters of the Carribbean.

There they are thought to be an invasive species.... with a voracious appetite.

It is believed that they will eat their way to dominance.

And, that their presence without any natural predators....could destroy the ecosystem.

As a result, it is common for the dive guides.... to kill these fish every time they encounter them.

On this particular dive our guide was carrying a Hawaiian Sling.... a small spear that is launched using a large rubber band.

And this was the fate, of a couple of small Lionfish that we saw during our dive.

Best of Mike #254

In my last post, I made a big deal about how plain the Southern Ray is.

But the Yellow Stingray.... is just the opposite.

Yellowish brown in color.... they are covered with numerous pale and dark spots and blotches.

And, can change colors too.... by dramatically lightening or darkening these these markings.

You can see in this pixture, just how graceful they are.

Why crash into or even touch that piece of coral.... when you can just flow around it.

Best of Mike #253

The Southern Stingray just isn't much to look at.... until they move.

Then.... it's just amazing.

They float and fly.... with almost no effort.

A flat, diamond-shaped mud brown, olive or grey disc.... laying motionless on the bottom.

Becomes poetry in motion.... when they swim.

But give them the room they need.

They come equipped with a serrated barb on their tail.... that is covered in a venomous mucus.

Not something that is fatal to humans.... but it will hurt, a lot, if you get stung.

Best of Mike #252

If we are telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

This is an Arrowcrab.... climbing around inside a vase sponge.

But if we were spinning a yarn.

It would be an alien being.... a Gangliopied

Running across the surface of our moon.

To board it's flying saucer.... and invade the Earth.

Best of MIke #251

Long ago.... when I first got interested in photography.

I took a night school class.

Part of that class involved professional models.... posing for the pixtures we took.

We were able to ask them for an emotion, which would then appear on their face for our shot.

I don't speak Barracuda.... so I didn't ask for an emotion for this pixture.

But it sure looks like he is posing.... so I wonder what he thinks I said.

Best of Mike #250

When I look at this pixture....  I think that he is waving me off.

You know.... "Hey back off buddy, I need room to swim here".

But I really wasn't as close as it looks.

So, it's probably more like.... "Ha ha, this fool thinks he can swim with me."

A slight turn and two leisurely kicks of his flippers.... was all that it took to prove that he was right.

Best of Mike #249

Every time that I take a pixture of a Spiny Lobster .... I am struck by the same thought.

It's a very good thing that they taste so good.

Because, if we had to judge them on their looks .... they would get no love at all.

I am not sure how something can be this ugly .... and boring at the same time.

But they do manage to pull that off.

Best of Mike #248

This pixture does a good job of showing  just how transparent .... the body of a Spotted Cleaner Shrimp really is.

They are found all throughout the Caribbean and can be found on the reef as deep as 79ft. 

They live in association with an Anemone.

Their job is to clean the parasites and flakes of dead skin from the fish .... that visit the cleaning station.

A job that includes entering the mouths and gills of fish they clean.

So here's my question.

If you were there, with a good view, during the cleaning .... would you actually see the food inside their body?

Or is it too microscopic to be seen .... with the naked eye.

Best of Mike #247

This is the 1st pixture that I have ever taken of a Nudibranch.

It might actually be the 1st time I have ever seen one live.

Nudibranchs are a mollusk .... so a shell would be common.

But these guys shed that shell ....when they leave the larval stage.

The word nudibranch comes from the Latin "nudus", meaning naked .... and the Greek "brankhia" meaning gills.

And refers to the shell they don't have.

You can find them in every ocean .... and you can find them at a variety of depths (some as deep as 8200 ft).

There are over 3000 species of nudibranchs .... so they come in a variety of shapes.

But you can pretty much always count on them having striking colors.

They use these colors .... two different ways.

As camouflage to match the brightly colored reef around them .... as you see here.

Or as contrast to surroundings .... always a warning in the underwater world.

Something that goes out of it's way to stand out in a world full of predators .... is at best, going to taste really bad.

And, quite often will be poisonous .... to anything that touches or eats it.

Best of Mike #246

A Porcupinefish.... sometimes called a Balloonfish, Blowfish or Globefish.

They are even sometimes called a Pufferfish.... but that would be wrong.

A completely different guy.

Porcupinefish have the ability to inflate their bodies ... by swallowing water or air.

This will increase their size to almost double.... which reduces the number of predators with a mouth big enough to swallow them.

As line of defense.... their body is covered with sharp spines, which stand out straight from their body when they are inflated.

That makes them a lot less fun to swallow.... even if your mouth is big enough.

But none of that mayhem was going on here.... in fact, I have never seen one inflated.

We were just having.... a nice friendly game of hide and seek.

Best of Mike #245

This is a pretty rare pixture for me.

Two fish in the same shot.... is a rare thing for me.

And, two interesting fish at that.... a High Hat and a Sharpnose Puffer.

I am a "fill the frame" kind of photographer.... and as a result prefer to use a long lens.

I also subscribe the to the belief that when you think you are close.... get closer.

So, I usually have all my attention focused on a single subject.

To tell you the truth, that was the case here too. 

My intention was to get a pixture of the High Hat.

But I got excited on the way in, to close.... and snapped an early frame.

I didn't even know the Puffer was there.... until I went to crop the pixture, more than a year after I shot it.

Sometimes a little luck is a photographers best friend.

Best of Mike #244

Sometimes to you take the pixture, bring it home and like it.... just because.

It's just a shell.

Maybe someone lives inside.... and maybe not.

But it is still a great shape, with interesting lines and warm colors.

Something that you are probably not going to see on your way to work tomorrow.

And that .... makes it beautiful.

Best of Mike #243

Scorpionfish make a pretty easy subject.... once you find them.

The truth is I am always proud.... and probably even a little amazed, when I do spot one.

They blend so perfectly with their surroundings that I most often see them.... only because they move.

They generally don't go far.... before they again settle to the coral.

And then, both of us knowing where the other is.... you can usually get pretty close for the pixture.

Even then, I have to say.... the camoflage is so good.

That if it weren't for the eyeballs.... I might not know which end to photograph.

Best of Mike #242

This little cutie is a.... Juvenile Smooth Trunkfish.

The dark colored body with the large spots.... will change shape as they grow.

This particular one, seems to be on it's way to the triangular shape.... that they have as an adult.

But when they are very, very young..... they are almost completely round.

And definitely smaller than a marble.

It uses it's protruding lips to expel a jet of water. 

Which disturbs the sandy seabed.... and reveals any shallowly buried insects worms, clams, snails or crabs.

Any of which this guy would call.... good eating.

Best of Mike #241

So, I'm swimming along.... checking out what's what on the reef.

When I see this guy, an Arrowcrab.... climbing out of crevice behind the Anemone.

Actually there were two of them.... climbing out together.

So, now I'm wondering.... what they were up to back there.

Was it just the two of them.... fooling around.

Or is the secret entrance to some kind of a clubhouse.

With a big old party happening back there.... invitation only!

Best of Mike #240

When Horton Hears the Who.

Is he really hearing from an entire universe.... that lives on the head of a pin?

I haven't seen the movie, or read the book.... if there is one.

But I am thinking that is the premise of that story.

So, here is the eye of a Porcupine Fish.... take a close look.

Is that not.... an entire universe that we are seeing in there.

I don't hear anything.... but it sure looks like Horton might.

Best of Mike #239

Not so long ago.... in BoM #232.

I wrote about Hermit Crabs.... and their blue eyes.

And so began a quest.... for the perfect pixture of those baby blues.

This is probably not the best I will get.... but it is a step in that direction.

The top 1/2 of the frame.... is pretty much all shell.

While the lower part of the frame.... is the bottom in this section of the reef.

Notice how similar they are.

The Hermit Carbs, striking blue eyes.... are mounted on the ends of moveable stalks.

And, are made up of faceted lenses.

Making them particularly good at.... picking up fine movements, in the world around them.

Best of Mike #238

The Bearded Fireworm is a slow creature.... not considered a threat to humans unless touched.

They are kind of remind you of a fuzzy caterpillar.

But definitely no fun to touch. 

The white bristles, along the side of their body, when flared.... can penetrate human skin.

Injecting a powerful neurotoxin.... that produces an intense irritation and a painful burning sensation.

This sting can also lead to nausea and dizziness. 

The sensation lasts up to a few hours.... but a painful tingling can continue beyond that, at the area of contact.

Applying a removing adhesive tape will help to remove the spines.... applying alcohol will also help alleviate the pain.

I said applying.... not drinking.

Best of Mike #237

To get this close.... it has to be because the turtle is cool with it.

And, this guy was good with being in my pixtures.

Hawksbill's have an elongated, head that ends in beak-like mouth.... that is the feature that gives them their name.

Adults grow to 3ft in length and weigh 180 lbs.... on average.

Their range covers.... the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Of all the sea turtle species, this is the one most associated with warm tropical waters.

Sponges make up 70-95% of their diets, in the Caribbean. 

However, like many spongivores, they feed only on select species.... ignoring the others.

Best of Mike #236

Surely this is one of those faces that only a mother could love.

The Barracuda is a ray-finned fish.... known for it's large size and fearsome appearance.

Some of the species can reach nearly 7 ft in length.

They are a voracious, opportunistic predator.

Relying on surprise and short bursts of speed.... up to 27 mph to overtake prey.

Barracuda prey primarily on fish.... which include some as large as themselves.

They kill and consume larger prey by tearing chunks of flesh.

Often competing against mackerel, needle fish.... and sometimes even dolphins for prey.

Best of Mike #235

I love these little guys... Juvenile Spotted Drumfish.

I have in the past.... described them as swimming with the grace of a feather.

But that really doesn't describe the silky flexibility that characterizes their movement.

They move like an eddy in the wind.... with stripes.

And move they do.... making them both a pleasure to watch and challenge to photograph.