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.