Best of Mike #305

One of my favorite subjects, a Smooth Trunkfish.... on a mission to somewhere.

Do you think he knows I'm following him?

Best of Mike #304

It's always fun when we see the wildlife doing "other stuff" when we are diving.

This is one of the many members of the grouper/hind family of fish.... a Rock Hind, I think.

Taking a break from his normal activity (swimming) inside a tube sponge.

I am not sure why they do this.... but a little rest with some protection from predators, seems like a pretty good guess.

Best of Mike #303

The Sharptail Eel is one of the subjects that I am always looking to get a better pixture of.

On this particular trip they seemed to be pretty common and active during the day.... even though their normal habit is to hunt at night.

They are relatively unconcerned with the presence of a diver. But they are a hunter and their version of hunting involves moving pretty quickly along the bottom.... in fact thjey even have the ability to move under the sand. 

Their style of hunting involves sticking their head into and under things in search of prey. 

So, while getting a pixture of their body is pretty easy.... a shot of their head can be a whole different challenge.

Best of Mike #302

This is a Queen Angelfish.

She has pretty distinctive coloring but just so you are 100% sure .... there's the crown right there on the top of her head.

I especially like the fact that the crown contains speckles that make you think of diamonds.

Best of Mike #301

This fellow is an Atlantic Creole. They are a plankton picker that often mixes with other species in order to feed in open water away from shelter.

I am always attracted to the red on their fins where they attach to the body. At a quick glance you think blood.... but that is not really the case, it's just coloring.

However, this particular one has a hitchhiker on the right side of his face below his eye.

The hitchhiker is a parasitic osopod.... that attaches itself to the fish and lives off it's blood and fluids.

I have seen other Atlantic Creole who have an isopod below each eye.

Best of Mike #300

This wee guy is a Goby.... a Pallid Goby.

There are many, many types of Gobies. The whole crowd are small typically in the range of about 1 inch long.

If they are very prone to fast and abrupt movement. In fact, if they are not the kings of the "darters" they are in the top three.

And this particular Goby is more or less translucent.... save for the orange markings.

Best of Mike #299

There isn't much in the way of action going on in this shot.... but there is some pretty.

It's a Purple Vase Sponge and it's pretty common throughout the Caribbean.

But pretty much every time I see one, I have thoughts of delicate, crystal stemware.

Best of Mike #298

So, fish "photo bomb" too.... apparently.

As I remember it, the intended subject of my pixture was the Blackbar Soldierfish in the bottom right corner of the frame.

I do think that I was aware of the Speckled Hind to the left of the frame.... and did intend to include him.

But the other Blackbar Soldierfish, peaking up from underneath the intended subject is a total photo bomb.... nice job!

Best of Mike #297

Not all of the critters I take pixtures of are underwater.

This one, an Iguana, was under a bench.

The bench where we were gearing up the day we dove from the pier at Buddy Dive.

He didn't seem mind that we were closer.... so I got his pixture, before we hit the water.

Best of Mike #296

He's there if you look closely.

A Sharpnose Pufferfish, in amongst the stalks of a Purple Stovepipe Sponge.

He's wee, two or three inches long when full grown but this guy is a juvenile and quite a bit smaller than that. 

They are generally solitary. They say they "swim" about the reefs and  seagrass beds. But I am going to tell you that that swimming is much more of a "darting about".... making them a challenging subject to photograph, even though they are quite plentiful.

Best of Mike #295

I guess that some of the fish we see, in this case a French Angelfish.... have become a little bit like my kids and grandkids.

It's not like we haven't seen them before.

It's not like you don't know what they look like.

But when you catch one in a good pose.... you just have to take the pixture.

Best of Mike #294

Here he is, the scourage of the Caribbean.... a Lionfish.

They are a species native to the Pacific.... but an invasive predator in the Caribbean.

This particular one, was hanging at this weird angle on the side of the coral in a recess in the reef.

The dive guides at resorts will very often kill them, each time they see one.

I had read some time ago that there were attempts underway to create some predators amongst the other sea life, who would help to control the population.

This trip we noticed that Lionfish burgers (quite tasty actually) were on the menu at many restaurants and food trucks around the island. So, I guess humans have now been successfully added to the list of predators.

Best of Mike #293

Because sometimes.... well every day actually, if it's a possibility.... you need a sunset.

And.... a sunset pixture.

This one is the big tug.... tied up at the Town Pier, in Kralendijk, Bonaire. 

Best of Mike #292

A few posts ago, I showed you one of the resident Spotted Cleaner Shrimp from an Anemone.

In that case he was right out the edge checking out my actions and/or making sure that I was not up to any shenanigans.

In this case he is deeper amongst the tentacles being a lot shyer or maybe taking care of some of his housekeeping duties.

Best of Mike #291

This is a Spotted Moray.

This one is a creative fellow giving us a "hanging from above" look that you don't often see.

My guess is that he was on his way to wherever he intended to hole up.... and we interrupted that journey.

Normally, they hide in a recess somewhere with just their head poking out. Unless they are out to forage.... which they are known to do both during the day and at night.

If you were to observe him for a while.... you would notice that he is constantly opening and closing his mouth. This is not a threat, it is the action that is required for their respiration.

Best of Mike #290

Some fish are known by many different names.

I'm not sure if they are aliases, nom de plumes or just confusion.

This guy might be called a Red Hind, a Strawberry Grouper or a Speckled Hind.

By any of those names they are known to inhabit shallow inshore patches of the reef all the way out to the deep banks. 

They are generally drifting just above the bottom or even resting quietly on the bottom on their pectoral fins, blending in with the surroundings.

Come to think of it.... he's doing some blending right here.

Best of Mike #289

The Common Sea Fan is, as the name might imply, a pretty common underwater sight.

But that doesn't mean they aren't kind of impressive.

They are very often large, 6ft or more across, sometimes have a vein structure is quite a vivid purple.... and can be quite mesmerizing as they wave in the currents.

They are a colony of many small fans that all grow together in a single plane.

Best of Mike #288

And this ugly character is a Sand Diver.

This is his favorite activity.... laying on the bottom.

They are an ambush hunter who will lay on the sand, sometimes even burying themselves, all but their head.

And, you guessed it, they have the ability to lighten or darken their coloring in order to blend in.

They are somewhat wary but typically won't move unless they are closely approached.... or a meal swims by.

Best of Mike #287

This is a pretty common character.... a French Grunt.

They most commonly swim in schools.... and have a very cool way of flowing away from divers, as a group, when we approach.

I liked the idea of this pixture because this was a fairly rare solo sighting and he was in amongst one of my favorite subjects.... Staghorn Coral.

Best of Mike #286

A pixture of a Caribbean Reef Squid just never really does it justice. 

When you see them in their element there are features and changes to their coloring that are happening pretty much continually. 

They have a reputation for great intelligence.... and somehow the way they behave in the water and the way they choose to interact with us lends credence to that.

Best of Mike #285

There are many species on the reef, that use and excel at camouflage.... but these guys, the Spotted Scorpionfish must be at the very top at that game.

I most often find them when they move.... but I think your best chance of finding him in this pixture is to locate the eye and then work it out from there.

They tell me that if you lift a fin and look at the underside you will find a riot of color. But to tell you the truth I have never found that kind of courage. They are called Scropionfish for  reason. A puncture wound from one of there venomous spines can cause severe pain.

Best of Mike #284

I am a big fan of Anemones.... finding one, even though they are not rare is always a treat in and of itself.

But there is pretty much always a hidden bonus.... as they very often seem to live in symbiotic relationships with different types of shrimp.

In this case the resident is a Spotted Cleaner Shrimp..... and a bold one at that, as he is out to have a look at what I am doing.

But very often the shrimp as considerably shyer, so it takes a little hovering and a little looking until one peaks out.

Best of Mike #283

I love these little guys.... the Redlip Blenny.

They are so tiny, about the size of your little finger.... but don't tell them that.

They are like the little dog that you see.... that has the attitude of the biggest dog in the park.

Most commonly, these guys, who are quite territorial, will have a perch on or near the crown of a coral head. This affords them the opportunity to survey their whole domain. 

I am not at all sure how big that domain is.... but they are certainly keeping an eye on it, whatever it is. 

Best of Mike #282

Banded Butterflyfish most often swim in pairs.... but that doesn’t mean that the pair is easy to photograph.

I have spent years.... almost getting the shot I wanted. That too changed on one of our many excellent dives under the Salt Pier.

One pair were quite literally posing for me in the bowl of a sponge, as we made our way out to the reef under the pier. And then.... on our return trip, when they saw me coming, they swam back to the same sponge to pose some more.

I got some good pixtures of that pair.... and then like many things in life, once I had done it once it just didn’t seem that hard anymore. So here is another pair whose pixtures I took on a different dive to the same site.

Don't you think it's cool how one band of color runs right thru their eye?

Best of Mike #281

One of our favorite dive sites on Bonaire is Salt Pier. It’s. working pier that loads freighters with salt from the Cargill plant. But when there are no ships loading it is available to divers.

It’s a popular site so there are often as many as 20 dive parties there.... with many of them entering and exiting the water at any given time.

These Green Sea turtles are feeding on the sea grasses in just a couple of feet of water right next to the shore. In fact.... there was a group of 3 divers and an instructor standing waist deep the the water debriefing there dive. 

I don’t think they knew the turtles were there.... but they thought I was a little weird swimming around them taking all those pixtures. 

Even better yet, this was not a random encounter. We dive this site a number of times during our stay and found turtles in the same area every time.

Best of Mike #280

This styling guy is a Scrawled Filefish. 

They come in a variety of colors and shades brown, reddish-brown, yellow-brown, green and grey.... with many dark and white speckles, spots, splotches that make us their stylish dress.

Like many reef species, they have the ability to lighten and darken their overall coloring to blend in with their surroundings.

They are pretty unconcerned with divers and will allow close approach. Although they seem to think that I would prefer a pixture of their butts, as that is what they like to point my way.... and make me work for a face shot.

Best of Mike #279

The Green Moray is the big guy in the eel family. We don’t often see them out and about.... so there was a very long time when I couldn’t actually have told you how big they are.

But I have since seen them swimming and can now tell you that they are in the neighborhood of 5-6 feet long.

And on this trip.... we saw this guy on three different dives over three different days swimming in the same area. 

So where’s the swimming free photo you ask? The simple answer to that is that he is too fast for me. I did snap away each time he swam by.... but they all came out as that blurry out of focus kind of pixture that no one wants to see.

Best of Mike #278

A Black Spine Urchin.... tucked in amongst the coral heads, as they like to be during the day but they will get out to forage during the night.

Their long thin needle like spines are both very sharp and brittle. So, if you get too close they will puncture you and then break off, leaving a barb and a discoloring dye beneath the skin.

Those barbs are really hard to remove and look kind of bad because of the dye they leave with you. But if you guard against infection the barb will dissolve in just a few days.

Best of Mike #277

The Porcupinefish is a member of the puffer family.

They are lurkers, spending their time in or near recesses, cave openings or occasionally in grassy areas. They are quite shy and will retreat into the protection of those areas if approached. Often turning to peer out of the safety of their protection.

If you, or a predator, were to outright molest them.... they would inflate, causing the long spines on their body to stand erect.

Best of Mike #276

This long thin fellow is a Trumpetfish.... so named for their trumpet like mouth.

Their most common coloring is brown to the reddish brown that you see here. But they can be anything from blue-gray to bright yellow and many shades in between.

They are and ambush hunter, so they are very adept at color change.... using that and their position to blend in with the background around them.

They will even hover just above another fish or align themselves head down parallel to stalks of sea rod coral to set their ambush.

They will use these same camouflage skills to avoid the attention of divers.... but will move away (not ambush) if they sense that we have detected them.

Best of Mike #275

Staghorn Coral form antler-like racks of cylindrical branches. They  grow in colonies of great tangles, are a beautiful golden color and are quite fragile.

They prefer depths of 10-60ft are most commonly on the reef but occasionally a colony will grow separately in open areas of sand.

The little bumps that you see in this pixture are the polyps.... retracted during the day but extended for feeding at night.

They are a rapidly growing coral, under optimal conditions 5-6in a year and are often the site of lots of small fish and critter activity.

Best of Mike #274

This fellow is a Honeycomb Cowfish. That honeycomb pattern covers their whole body and they have a sharp spine above each eye and two more in front of the anal fin.

Their overall color can be shades of blue to green to yellow.... which they have the ability darken or lighten in order to blend in with the surrounding area.

They are a member of the boxfish family, making them a slow and awkward swimmer.

But they are extremely wary and have the ability to twist, turn and dodge to make themselves a challenging photo op, even if they are not fast.

Best of Mike #273

This is a Giant Anemone.... not so giant in the context of the whole world but the biggest in the anemone world, about 12in.

What we see are the tentacles.... in this case white, with just a bit of a greenish tint. The tips are often swollen, as some in this pixture are and if you zoom in a bit you will see the texture on the stems of those tentacles.

You will most often find them in a rocky section of the wall or reef, where they can fit their bodies down into a safe hole or crevice.

Best of Mike #269

A Violet Feather Duster is a worm. Very definitely part of the underwater world where beauty is present with a name that us landlubbers associate with things not very pretty.

They grow in clusters with crowns of radioles (that’s the pretty part) extending from parchment like tubes.

They are common throughout the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Crowns vary in color and have been noted to vary by geographical area.... violet in the Caymans (and Bonaire too), white in Cozumel and light brown in Belize. The color is usually more intense around the mouth, shading to white at the outer edges of the crown; occasionally displaying some banding.

They prefer areas of the reef that have good movement of the water. They reproduce asexually which is the reason for the clusters. 

They are a shy bunch and will pop back into their tubes when approached. But if you are willing to wait motionless.... they will re-emerge.

Best of Mike #272

This is a Sergeant Major.... and without a doubt one of the feistiest fish on the reef.

They are about the size of the palm of your hand and most easily recognized by the 5 black bars on their body.

They are mainly white, silver or light grey color with yellow highlights. But when the male is courting or guarding the egg patch that comes after the courting.... they turn this blue color.

And guard they do. They are not the least bit intimidated by a diver many, many times their size. More than a few times they have swum directly at me with the idea that they can drive me off.

On more than one occasion, when I have been closer than they liked or moving slower than they want.... they have even nibbled a knuckle or two to make their point crystal clear.

Best of Mike #271

Purple Vase Sponge are visible from a ways off as you swim along the reef and I like to think of them as a present.... pretty on the outside with a treat on the inside.  

They come in colors pink, purple or even fluorescent blue with a rough exterior of convoluted ridges and valleys.

Once you are done admiring their outside beauty it's always worth a peak inside.... as there is often an addition treat nestled in there. In this case it's a couple of Hermit Crab.



 

Best of Mike #270

The Caribbean Reef Squid is the most common of the squid species.

They are about 12in long and have an oblong body bordered by a translucent fin that tapers to a point at the rear.

They frequently change colors and patterns.... browns to white often with highlights of blue and green.

Best of Mike #268

One of my favorite underwater photo subjects is the French Angelfish.

I usually photograph them from the side.... and have described them as roughly the size and shape of a dinner plate.

Here is a face on shot that shows off their very thin profile.

Best of Mike #267

Doctorfish can be anywhere from 6-12in long.

They have the ability to change color from the pale that you see here to a much darker blue gray or brown.

They often stop in the head down pose that you see here.... to feed on algae.

Best of Mike #266

My last blog post (August 2014) told the story of Linda getting sick in Roatan. 

Some time did pass before we got back in the water and back to scuba diving. And there was an even longer break.... until I had a camera with me again on our dives. 

But with our trip to Bonaire in April of 2019.... we are back.

As you can see Linda is back to her happy diver self.... and I have lots to share, as I  came home from this 5 week trip with more than a 1000 pixtures.